


Absent Gods and Silent Tyranny or: How Logan Learned to Stop Over Thinking and Love Everyone

by Acantha_Echo



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Burns, Gen, He Will, He doesn't get it yet, Hero Patton, Hero Remy, I will punish your friends for your failure, Logan does a dumb, Morally Grey Logan, Roman and Virgil are brothers, Seriously guys, Tired Virgil, Villain Logan, We hope, Whipping, and a brave, fire injury, he is done with this, he wants a nap, hero and villain au, hero roman, let a boy nap, minor torture, nothing graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acantha_Echo/pseuds/Acantha_Echo
Summary: Dr. Logic makes his living working for whichever Super Villain is willing to pay. At the end of the day it is a job where he can put his talents to work.He certainly isn’t bothered by things like public morality or the definition of good vs evil. He doesn’t have time for things like that, although he accepts that he would be considered a ‘bad guy’. As far as Logan is concerned, it is a small price to pay for the benefits of proper scientific funding.But when his latest invention fails and his Boss decides to punish someone else for his mistakes, Logan is forced to reevaluate everything he thought he knew.And maybe accidentally make some friends along the way.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1673149
Comments: 240
Kudos: 220





	1. The Perils of a Mid Tier Villain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Listenerofshadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listenerofshadows/gifts).



> Hello, hello! Welcome to my newest story. Those of you who follow me on Tumblr might remember reading this chapter a few months ago. I then went away and wrote the rest of this story. So expect a chapter every Sunday until it's done, with a total of ten chapters. 
> 
> Enjoy ten chapters of Logan and Virgil angst, some platonic goodness for all the boys as I try and get to grips with Logan's character once more.
> 
> This was originally written for the ever lovely Listenerofshadows's birthday. Check her out, she is the Queen of platonic found family for our boys and I bow to her.
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble, come say hi @theeternalspace

There were many things that Logan didn’t understand about his boss. 

Her almost obsessive need for dramatics was just one of them. Admittedly, right now, it was fairly high up on the list of things he didn’t understand and wished he did. Mostly because right now he was sat in a chair with a ring of fire around it to keep him in place while she prowled backwards and forwards outside. Really, the whole thing was pointless since Logan hadn’t made a single attempt to leave. He saw no need, she had called him in for a meeting and so a meeting they would have. 

There were other things he didn’t understand about her. A lot of them were in some way connected to that dramatic impulse which ran through every action she took. It was as though being a villain intent on overthrowing the current ruling regime and replacing it with her own rule wasn’t enough for her. She had to somehow stand out from the rest of the would be dictators and tyrants. Like many of them, she had decided to go dramatic to do so.

Logan was fairly certain that by trying to stand out, she just made herself fade more into the background because it was hard to tell her apart from any other cackling villain giving a monologue about their latest plan. 

Still, as far as super villains went, he had worked for worse. He had spent several particularly unpleasant years stuck as head ‘henchman’ for a particularly inept villain who considered himself a mad scientist even though it had been Logan who had done most of the work. Logan would have quit long ago if it hadn’t been for the awkward fact that he had accidentally agreed to let the man genetically tag him. Logan never made the same mistake twice however and he made doubly sure to read every contract before signing it. 

If it hadn’t been for the heroes eventually shutting him down and one of them wiping the hard drives that contained Logan’s bio-metric passport, he would still be stuck there, more a slave than anything else.

As it was, he had been able to escape in the confusion, quickly getting himself another job with another villain. 

Logan didn’t fool himself. He didn’t consider himself a particularly good person. Then again, he didn’t consider himself a particularly bad one either. He worked for her because the pay was good and because - for the most part - he agreed with her aims should she ever actually manage to take over the world. At this point, he was starting to wonder if she could even manage to take over the city. 

How hard could it be to take over a city? Not that Logan would ever question her on that. He valued his own skin too highly for that and he learnt almost right away that you didn’t insult or question the boss. 

It had led to many bitten cheeks over the years but that was a price Logan was willing to pay rather than being vaporised on the spot. Or worse, agonisingly tortured to death for insolence, like so many of his rather stupid colleagues over the years. 

Sometimes, he wondered why he had never taken the step to become a super villain in his own right. He could probably do a much better job of it than most of his employers. He wouldn’t waste time telling the heroes his plans. He would merely dispose of them and move on. 

Still, if he had done that, then he might never have met - no. Best not to think, to second guess himself in the hypothetical. 

It wouldn’t be death. He wouldn’t kill and that was one of the reasons why he was content to remain as a head scientist or tech in whatever evil organisation he was currently working for. With the aforementioned mad scientist excluded, all his previous evil employers had nothing but positive things to say about him. He had glowing references - in the case of the one from a radioactive villain, quite literally glowing. 

He didn’t particularly want to take over the world. The neat and logical order that would come with him ruling was a tempting prospect but Logan had no desire for all the work that came with it. He would be content with ruling his own little area as promised. 

Right now, however, he was seriously considering handing his notice in. Honestly, he had been considering the concept for a while now, ever since her latest... hire. He didn’t mind working with someone else so long as they either knew their place or could match him in intelligence. They could never do the later but they tended to fall into the former. Or else he convinced her to get rid of them. Logan never really lost much sleep over what ‘got rid of’ could mean in the context of a supervillain. It was just part of life and he moved on from it.

But the latest helper had been different. He could almost match Logan in talent. If it wasn’t for the rather unfortunate little fact that he was a prisoner and being held against his will then they would have gotten along splendidly from the start. 

As it stood, it had taken them weeks to get past the rather frosty greetings each shift. The chains and guards probably didn’t help matters but Logan couldn’t understand why he was so opposed to making the best of a bad situation. It didn’t matter that he might not agree with her methods - he was her prisoner and it would be logical to go along with her wishes to save himself further pain.

Virgil hadn’t thought much of that logic. Which had resulted in more beatings that Logan had thought strictly necessary. He needed him intact for their work. 

Eventually, Virgil had settled into some kind of grumpy obedience, enough that they were able to converse - albeit still with a guard present - and make progress on various work orders from the boss. Logan had come to rather admire Virgil’s brain in those weeks and eventually something approaching a friendship had been formed. Enough that Logan could trust Virgil not to stab him in the back. Enough for him to be able to produce some very useful items for his boss. 

Enough to start to give him doubt about if it was... right, to keep Virgil here against his will.

He was safer here. There was little chance of attack because if there was one thing Ms Dragon Witch was good at, it was keeping her secret lairs, well secret. Virgil was the first ‘heroic’ prisoner she had ever brought to her base, and he was never allowed out of the lab or the cell he was kept in next to it. Logan had a horrible suspicion he was sedated whenever she wished to see him so that Virgil couldn’t learn the layout of the base. 

All the better for Virgil. The less he knew, the less danger he was in. The less chance there was that he would think to make an escape attempt - not that Logan thought Virgil was that foolish, he was too smart to risk himself on such a small chance of success. 

There were no fights down here, no chance of being caught in the crossfire. Just food, a roof and the chance to work on his projects. What more could anyone need?

According to Virgil, quite a lot. He wanted to go home, and he didn’t insult Logan’s intelligence by pretending that had changed. He wanted his brother and his other friends, no matter how idiotic he called them. He wanted to not be a prisoner. That last one, at least, Logan could sympathise with. 

But if Logan gave in his notice, there was no way that his Boss would allow him to take Virgil as a leaving present. He was her prized possession, her trophy and she adored having him brought to her chambers to gloat about whatever recent mission that had gone well. It was all rather inconsiderate of her, since more often than not the two of them had been deep in work when the summons had arrived.

Not to mention how pale and shaken his assistant always was when he was eventually returned to him. Virgil would take hours and sometimes a whole day to recover and get back into the groove of things. He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly she showed him. 

More and more, he felt like there had to be something he could do to aid Virgil, but he had yet to come up with a plan that didn’t get them all killed. If only Virgil could be reconciled to his new life. If only his boss would stop tormenting him so Logan could convince him of the merits. If only his friend wasn’t being hurt every day while Logan simply worked on his projects. 

It was a worry in the back of his mind, nothing more. It wasn’t a distraction and he refused to allow himself to be sidetracked by anything. Logan certainly wasn’t using those thoughts as an excuse for what had happened earlier today when Dragon Witches attempted attack on City Hall had been thwarted by the heroes. Her escape had been a close thing, with Logan’s devices barely functioning. Certainly not as he had intended. 

So his invention had failed. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Not even a genius like Logan could claim to have a one hundred percent success rate as much as he might wish otherwise. He was convinced that it wasn’t malicious but merely creator - or more likely user - error. He would improve on them and the same mistake would never happen again. 

The problem seemed to be his boss's increasingly paranoid view of the world. And how she didn’t seem to believe him that it had been an innocent accident. Instead, she had summoned him for this meeting, threw flame around his chair and then started ranting. Accusing him of either sabotaging the devices himself in the hope she would be captured or turning a blind eye to allow Virgil to do it to his work. 

It was insulting to think that he would betray his own values so lightly. He worked hard for his money, he worked hard for his reputation. He wouldn’t sacrifice it for mere sentiment, no matter how increasingly unstable she was becoming. He would simply quit, as he had considered. He certainly wouldn’t allow Virgil to sabotage his work, no matter how uneasy he felt about their partnership because that would be sabotaging everything Logan held dear. 

A shame, he couldn’t help but feel that she failed to see the beauty in those logical thoughts. Or the truth in them. 

She stood a few paces in front of him, having finally stopped her relentless prowling backwards and forwards. Deceptively delicate looking hands rested on her hips as she stared at him over the flames. As always, she was dripping in jewellery, rings on every finger, multiple bracelets and bangles jangling on her wrists with every little motion. Logan had always wanted to point out the fact that she made noises with her jewellery when she moved probably didn’t help her plans to be stealthy.

Once again, a healthy respect for his own skin staying intact had kept him quiet. Just as he kept quiet about the hideous fashion choice that was her ‘uniform’. A tight fitting gold and silver dress with a slit almost up to her waist might be her idea of seductive but as Virgil had once so rightly described her, she looked almost... tacky, then anything else. Coupled with the high heels she insisted on wearing, it certainly wasn’t a practical outfit but he swallowed down the biting comments he wished to say. 

Working for a super villain could be so _exhausting_ sometimes. 

“So you still refuse to admit your guilt Dr. Logic?” 

“I cannot admit to something I didn’t do Ms Dragon Witch.” There was no point in losing his temper even now. She would have to see reason eventually. All he had to do was explain things in smaller words until she eventually understood. He knew he was in the right and given enough time he was confident that he could convince her of that. All Logan had to do was stay alive long enough for her anger to fade and leave her more open to reason. 

“Fine,” she snapped. “You say you didn’t do it, thus logically you have nothing to be worried about it. In which case, I am sure you won’t mind what is about to happen.” One hand lifted into the air, the various bracelets making an all too familiar jingle jangle as they did. She didn’t say or do anything else but he had no doubt that the movement was a recognised signal for something. 

“Why?” Logan asked. He had to ask, he had to know. “What is about to happen?”

She smiled, something cold and empty. The fire that still raged around him seemed to be the only hot thing left in the room. Logan had thought he wanted her to calm down, to stop ranting and raving at him but now that she had done just that, he found her expression... disconcerting in the extreme. She was up to something. Her devious mind had been one of the attractions to accepting the job in the first place but he had never planned to be on the receiving end of her schemes. 

“I am not convinced of your honesty Dr. Logic. I think that little assistant I gave you has been messing with you. Maybe you don’t even realise what he has been doing hmm? Maybe you’re not as smart as you like to think and he’s been tricking you? Maybe you are falling for his poor little me act?” 

She was talking about Virgil, Logan realised with an unpleasant jolt. She was acting as though Virgil was manipulating him, that he was the victim here. 

Logan didn’t doubt that Virgil would take advantage of a situation like that if the opportunity presented itself to him. Virgil was a survivor and you didn’t become one of those by forever following the rules. He wanted to get out of here and back to the place that he called home. Of course he would leap at any chance. That didn’t mean there had been any chance for him to do that. Logan made sure that he wasn’t faced with any such temptation. 

And how dare she think that Logan would be that foolish as to fall for such a thing? Logan might have some latent sympathy for the predicament that Virgil found himself in but there was no way he would be so foolish as to help him. Not like that. Helping like that would only lead to pain. Logan was keen to keep both of them away from that. 

Also, he was just smarter in general than to be fooled by someone trying to sabotage his work behind his back.

“I can assure you that you are incorrect. My work was not tampered with, either by myself or my assistant. Sometimes projects do not work as well as intended. Surely you can appreciate such a fact?” 

It was cutting perilously close to the bone, to make such a comment. To remind her of all her own failures. Logan however, was starting to become a little desperate. He couldn’t decide if the way she ignored him was a good thing or not. Dragon Witch curled some of her dark brown hair between her fingers, twisting it into a tighter and tighter circle as she carried on speaking. Her voice was light, almost musing but no less deadly because of that. 

“Either way I’m going to have to punish him for your failure.”

It was my failure!” Logan protested. He tried to ignore how his heart leapt into his mouth at the sight of the still form of Virgil being dragged into the room. The purple haired man was held by his arms, hanging limply between two of her guards, head bowed. It didn’t comfort Logan to get confirmation of his theory that she kept him unconscious from room to room. Normally, being proved right was a sure fire way to cheer Logan up. It settled and reassured him. 

Seeing Virgil in such a weakened state didn’t do that this time. 

“Ah the guest of honour,” she purred, turning away from Logan, her attention momentarily lost by the new arrival. It gave Logan a chance to shift a little in his seat, trying to get a better view of Virgil. It was hard to tell over the flames but he was confident that Virgil was at least breathing - it remained to be seen if that would actually be a good thing or not. 

Ms Dragon Witch clicked her fingers, pointing towards another chair, set in perfect symmetry to Logan’s own. There was a circle of dust around it, powder that Logan knew could turn to flame at a moment’s notice. How he had failed to notice it before was beyond him, but then again, his attention had been fixed on the danger in front of him. Not the seating arrangements opposite him. 

Virgil was deposited none too gently in the chair, his head still slumped forward on his chest. 

“Finally, time to play. What do you say Dr. Logic? Shall we test some theories?”

“Theories?” Logan repeated back to her, gaze darting between his boss and his assistant. The flames had to be getting to him at last, because he could feel sweat beads springing up along his forehead. “I am a man of science, you know I am always interested in proving or disproving theories.” 

“Excellent! Let’s find out just what happened shall we? And how long it takes for my little toy to scream this time.” 

Her smile was as unsettling as before, sharp and cutting. She threw back her head and laughed, a super villain finally indulging herself to her limit. Logan had seen her in these moods before, but he had never been on the receiving end of one. He had always known better but now, through no fault of his own it appeared as though he was about to get a taste of her at her worst. 

Or was it, Virgil was about to learn just how evil she could actually be? 

For perhaps the first time in his life, Logan finally found something that he didn’t want to know the answer to.


	2. What's in a Name?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! So I had planned to update this yesterday, but my concept of time and days is completely messed up due to the real world mess that is going on. I honestly didn’t realise I’d missed Sunday. So better a day late than not at all right? Thank you so much for the comments in part one, it really means a lot to know so many of you are excited to come on this trip with me.
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumblr! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### What’s in a Name?

** **

The minions and henchmen moved around the room with a quiet grace. This was a dance that they had clearly done time and time again. They knew which items Ms. Dragon Witch would want without being asked, they knew where to take the table and how to lay out the objects to best please her. It was the sort of efficiency that Logan would have normally appreciated. If it wasn’t all connected to inflicting pain on someone who did not deserve it.

Virgil was still unconscious, something Logan was grateful for. He knew it wouldn’t last - his boss enjoyed the screams of her victims too much for that - but the longer he slept, the longer it was until she began her wicked games. Which gave him a slight chance to change her mind still. It wasn’t some wild optimism that kept him going. He wasn’t being blind or hoping against an impossible hope. 

He was only being realistic. Logan was aware of his own talents, his own skills. He knew exactly how much he contributed to her evil empire and his worth overall. He was a talented asset to her. She was supposed to listen to him. Just as he was supposed to guide her to a series of better results. That was what Logan did. Along with creating various machines for her.

If she ever listened to him, he needed her to do it now. He needed to make her see how much of a mistake she was making. Virgil was so much more useful to them intact. Logan had to keep Virgil interact.

“Ah, Dr. Logic, having fun yet?” Ms. Dragon Witch had taken the opportunity while her people were setting up the torture station to change her dress. It was just as tight and as revealing as before, with a plunging neckline that showed far too much skin for his tastes. Then again, he really wasn’t her target audience as any amount of female skin would be too much for Logan. The dress was a spotless, striking white. An odd choice perhaps, for a torture session.

Except he knew she was aiming to hurt both of them at the same time. Seeing evidence of the wounds on her dress, to have red stain the white would create an effect. Not the one she wanted of course, but Logan was not wholly insensible to people’s feelings. He knew what she would expect and he knew what he would actually do. 

“You know I’m not,” Logan replied shortly, carefully keeping her gaze on her and not Virgil. 

“Poor little Logic. Not prepared to be on this side of things are you. Well, it’s been a long time coming. You have been getting far too... above yourself. Thinking yourself better than you are. And then to fail me in such a crucial moment. I should kill you for that. Perhaps I still will.” She tilted her head to the side, ruby red lips curling into some parody of a smile. 

“Or maybe I will just kill him.”

“I did not deliberately sabotage you, I am loyal to you and you alone Ms. Dragon Witch. That being said, I understand the need for a punishment for my sub-par work, but it was my work. Why punish him?” 

Logan didn’t understand her reasons. If there was something he hated above all else, it was not understanding something. He was the one - in her twisted mindset at least - to have failed. Virgil wasn’t even a close friend. He was merely his assistant. They had been brought together by chance, by her. If she hadn’t kidnapped Virgil from his home then they would never have met, would never have worked together. 

He shouldn't care what happened to Virgil. But his brain was far too useful to be wasted in such a pointless fashion. He was too... well, Logan couldn’t think of the word exactly. He couldn’t describe the many uses that Virgil had or the way in which he had improved every day since they had started to achieve a working relationship. 

That was another thing which annoyed Logan. This way in which Virgil refused easy categorisation, how he skipped and danced out of every mental box that Logan attempted to place him in. Virgil wasn’t like the other prisoners. He wasn’t like any of the past assistants. He wasn’t even like any of the heroes that he had ever seen from a distance. Then again, Virgil was the first hero he had actually met, so maybe they were all like that?

Not that Virgil would have called himself a hero. He was very particular about that. That was a title he said that only a few could bear and he wasn’t one of them. His idiot brother was a hero, not Virgil. Logan always knew better than to question him about the hero called Prince. Their relationship - such as it was - was built on unspoken agreements. Logan not trying to interrogate him about his brother was one of those. 

Logan couldn’t help but be curious. Not because he wanted to run and tell Ms Dragon Witch anything Virgil might confess - although he would have reported it and that was another reason why he didn’t press him on the matter. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t make that choice, be faced with that conflict of loyalties. No, he wanted to know about the Prince because he wanted to understand. How could anyone like Virgil be related to that... over the top and brash hero? Prince gave him a headache every time he was in the same area as him. 

Still, he didn’t ask. There were some lines that were not meant to be crossed and that was one of them.

“Why do you care what I do to him?” Dragon Witch asked, her voice sickly sweet. She hadn’t answered his question, he noticed. It was an infuriating habit of hers at the best of times, the way in which she would answer questions with another question of her own.

“He is useful,” Logan responded. Annoying habit or not, at least it had given him a window to try and plead his case. There could still be a chance of getting her to realise what a mistake she was making. “You captured him for his use as bait and a trophy. Damaged, his value diminishes.” 

With a long, slow, blink, Ms. Dragon Witch stared at him, her deep red nails tapping an even rhythm against her side. 

“Oh sweetheart,” Ms. Dragon Witch purred, amusement threading through every drawn out word. “So innocent. You think this is the first time I... damaged him, as you put it? What do you think happens every time I summon him for a visit? We have tea and crumpets, like polite little Englishmen and talk about the weather?”

“That is different,” Logan protested and how strange that it was another confirmation of a pet theory. Yet again, it was a confirmation that he didn’t actually want to know. Where was his belief in the truth? Logan had always held fast to the notion that there was nothing more beautiful and perfect than the truth, in all its raw and bleeding glory. It was far better to wrap yourself in facts, no matter how unpleasant than to hide yourself in a web of lies.

Yet the facts brought him little comfort in this case. 

She bent down, movement showing off yet more cleavage. It was almost embarrassing how much was on show now. If Logan didn’t know better, he would have thought she was trying to show off to him, simply for the sake of it. But that would be foolish. She knew his inclinations, she knew his preferences. It was not something you chose or could turn off with a single thought. Or a flash of skin. Ms. Dragon Witch leaned closer, his words managing to spark some interest within her. Better him than Virgil.

Wait.

Where had that thought come from? Logan normally valued himself correctly. Highly. He was extremely useful in more ways than one. He would set himself above most people, his assistant included. So why did that thought pass through his mind? Why did he seek to distract her from her murderous urges and try and engage her in conversation? Why did he want to stop her from hurting Virgil so badly? 

Almost as though reading his thoughts, she spoke again, her words tugging at all those deep and worrisome thoughts and confusion. 

“Oh? Different because... you don’t have to watch? Or because it isn’t your fault so you can ease that thing you pretend is a heart? I thought you didn’t have one of those?” 

“Of course I possess one. Just not in the manner in which you are implying,” Logan replied, words clipped and cold. He had no time for such a romantic use of an organ. The heart sent blood around the body and was an incredibly important thing for that alone. There was no need to complicate matters further by giving it the near deity level of importance that it had been raised to over the centuries. It was just a heart. Just another function within the body. 

Yet people acted as though it was something so much more. As if it ruled people’s thought process and as if it could force people to act against their previously defined character. He disliked such irrationality. Just as Logan disliked this conversation. Even as he kept it going.

Was this one of those so called heart moments? Had he finally succumbed to the madness of the human condition? Logan really hoped not. 

“That is punishment for what he has done. He chose to stand against you, which was wrong. This... this is not logical. There is no reason.”

“Just admit it Dr. Logic. You care about my little pet. You don’t want to see him hurt because of your actions. I wager you don’t want to see him hurt at all. I should have made you watch before now. How amusing to see you crumble.”

“I don’t want you to waste a resource we could use!” 

“Ah denial.” Ms. Dragon Witch shook her head in mock disappointment, the motion setting Logan’s teeth on edge. She sighed heavily, still playing this newest role with obvious relish. “Such an... illogical feeling, is it not?” 

“I am not in denial,” Logan retorted and he was rapidly losing patience with this whole thing. Why couldn’t she be as predictable and as useful as any of his experiments? If he had applied the correct pressure, then the expected response would occur. Humans were not nearly as neat as all of that. Much to his annoyance. By any reasonable measure, his words should have proved that Virgil was more useful intact and yet any argument he made only seemed to make her that much more determined. It was as though his words were having the opposite intended effect.

“It is you who are too dimwitted to properly appreciate the importance of my words. The logic of them.”

Anger was an emotion. Which meant that it wasn’t something that Logan regularly - if ever - experienced. If he did however, he would have to admit that he was feeling angry right now. And that the anger had made him hasty. Made him say some things that while true, were not exactly the most intelligent thing to say. Because while Logan did not suffer from emotions, Ms Dragon Witch did. Anger among them.

Her expression shifted into something truly murderous. There wasn’t even a chance to know that he had delivered the correct stimulus at last in order to get the response he expected. Anger was too easy an emotion to pull from her. Anger only served to make his job harder and so it was hardly the reaction he actually desired.

The flames rose higher for a moment, a crackling, heated warning for Logan to behave. As much as he wished to spare Virgil pain, he wasn’t going to place himself in that spot instead. He wasn’t a fool, no matter what she might think. 

Mouth snapped shut, Logan simply glaring back. He might be unwilling to verbally bait her any further but that didn’t mean he agreed with her. Or that he was fully giving in. Logan just wasn’t going to let himself get burnt by the fire which had thankfully returned to its previous levels. She stood on the other side of the flames, completely unaffected by the heat. Logan did his best to appear unaffected in turn, ignoring the sweat dripping down his face. He wasn’t about to show weakness. 

The angry snarl dropped away, Ms. Dragon Witch blinking a couple of times, her gaze angled slightly over Logan’s head and towards one of her minions. 

“You were always one for learning, were you not?” 

“I am,” Logan replied, feeling something akin to whiplash in the way she shifted so effortlessly away from rage to a question. Eyes flickered down to meet his gaze, rich lips curling back into that infuriating smile. 

“Let us see what you learn from this then, Dr. Logic.” 

With a soft hum, she turned away from him. It was the sort of noise that Logan would associate with being able to start an enjoyable activity. It was, he realised with a sickening drop of his stomach, the sound she must make whenever she got to play her games. Ms. Dragon Witch stepped to the side, giving him a clear view of his lab assistant in the chair opposite. As he had suspected - feared - the purple haired young man was awake. Which meant Logan was out of time.

Which meant he had _failed_.

“Sleepy head awakes at last. Hello, Virgil.” 

“Karen,” Virgil sneered, his eyes flashing with a near murderous rage. He didn’t appear to care that he was in her room, trapped. That... that wasn’t her name. Logan knew that. More to the point, Virgil knew it wasn’t her name. Why would he deliberately use an incorrect name? Why would he try and annoy her? From the way her fingers curled into brief talons, it was clear he had succeeded. 

"Behave darling. Different game this time. You are going to help me,” she instructed, slowly walking towards him. Hips swayed dramatically as she did, something too pronounced to be anything but deliberate. Always putting on a show. Virgil gave a snort, the sound effortlessly conjuring up exactly how he felt about that idea. 

“Fat chance.” 

“Oh, you won’t have a choice darling one.” Ms. Dragon Witch was behind him now, long nails tracing along his shoulder and dancing up his neck. Logan caught the tiny flinch that ran through Virgil’s body before he could suppress it. The way his breath hitched in his throat for just a fraction of a second. Try as he might to limit his physical responses, it was clear that Virgil was scared of her. 

Which made his previous bravado all the more bewildering. 

If you were scared of someone, why would you attempt to anger them? 

“What did you do to Dr. Logic’s project? I know you did something my pet...” She whispered the words, dipping a little so her long hair brushed against him. 

“What... what are you talking about?” Virgil asked cautiously. 

Logan’s eyes widened a little as he stared at Virgil. Nobody else seemed to have noticed the hint of uncertainty in the other’s words or the way he stiffened slightly. He had learnt a lot about people’s tells over the years. It helped him in more ways than one. Virgil had been a tough nut to crack. He still wasn’t sure if he had managed to learn it all. As much as it pained Logan to think, he was fairly confident that if Virgil tried to lie directly to his face, he would get away with it. 

True, he had already given himself away with his fear but this was something else. Something new. Something that a part of Logan was already filing away in the back of his mind in case he needed to compare that tone against any other Virgil might make. 

One thing was for sure though. Virgil had just _lied_ to her. 

Which meant - what exactly? 

That he had done something? Had it been his actions that had caused his machine to malfunction and cause all this trouble? 

No, Logan had checked all the figures and readouts himself as soon as the invention had malfunctioned. He had gone over all his notes, obsessively checking each line of code. He knew exactly where the project had gone wrong and why. Logan knew it had been an error on his part. An honest error, in not being able to match the different temperatures in which the liquids change to gases. That and that alone had been the cause of the failure. And it had been Logan’s miscalculation. 

It made him a little sick to his stomach, each time he thought that, but there was no getting around that awkward truth. It had been Logan who had messed up. 

So why was Virgil lying about it now? 

It was such a small slip up, something Logan doubted Ms. Dragon Witch would pick up on. Which meant his reaction wasn’t for her. It probably wasn’t for him either, and that pointed towards it being an honest, accidental reaction. In turn, that pointed to him not trying to deflect from causing damage. It was something else he was guilty of. So what had Virgil done? 

What was going on? 

“I’m talking about the new game pet. You’re going to help me teach Dr. Logic a lesson... unfortunately for you, I’m going to make you scream to do so. Perhaps then his mind will be more focused in the days ahead.” 

It was as though Virgil hadn't even noticed Logan was there until that moment, eyes shifting from Ms. Dragon Witch to stare at him. For a moment, the gaze was wide and unguarded. In that moment, Logan could see all the fear and worry reflected in his eyes. All the anxiety and the near crushing knowledge of how much this was going to hurt. Then, the shutters came down, Virgil closing himself off as best he could. 

“Take his jacket off. No sense in wasting time damaging thick cloth when I could be ripping skin apart.” 

The minions jumped to attention, all scurrying to carry out her bidding. No doubt fearful of what might happen to them if they displeased her. In a way, this was a brilliant choice on her part. At a stroke she would prove that nobody was above punishment. That nobody was too important. She would be able to show them what happens if they were to forfeit her favour and enjoy her herself in the process. 

Logan somehow doubted she had thought that far ahead. That wasn't her style. Ms. Dragon Witch's style was just that - flashy, loud, impressive. But ultimately lacking any sort of substance. His boss was acting on her emotions and little else. So caught up in the moment that she failed to see the long term advantages of her actions. Sooner or later, that would cost her dearly. Logan had always known that - right now however, he found himself hoping that it would be sooner. The sooner the better. 

Virgil's struggles had been pointless, the guards forcing his wrists back down against the arms of the chair. Thick metal snapped into place, curling around him and pinning him down. Logan had designed that chair. There was no getting out of it if you were the one in it. Not even Virgil would be able to. From the look on Virgil's face, he knew it too. It didn't stop the purple haired man from continuing to fight against them. 

How many times had she put him in that chair? How many of Logan's inventions had been used to hurt one of the very few people that he would class as interesting and near his own level? Logan wasn't naive. He was fully aware that most - if not all - of what he designed was used for nefarious purposes. He was even aware that many of them were used to create pain. It had never been something Logan had spent much time thinking about. It was just a side effect of achieving his goals. As Dr. Logic he had weighed up the pros and cons. It had been a price worth paying. 

Somehow it didn't give him the same kind of comfort when faced with the reality of the moment. 

While he was distracted, Ms. Dragon Witch had retrieved a whip from the collection on the table and returned to stand behind the cuffed Virgil. Logan really didn’t like either the object or the position. That strange knot of _something_ was growing larger in his stomach. 

“Ready pet?” 

Not that she waited for an answer. Instead, with a wicked giggle, she lifted the whip high in the air before bringing it sharply down against Virgil's exposed neck. 


	3. The Worst Word in the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back on the Sunday update plan! I still have very little grasp of days right now, as I’m sure most of you do too. What are days?
> 
> But anyway, welcome back. Thank you so much for all the lovely comments, I’ve spent so long writing this without feedback and it really means the world to know people are enjoying it. Let me know what you think of this chapter. It’s go time.
> 
> This is one of two angst heavy chapters. So as a **WARNING** there is description of torture here, blood, gore, fire, burning. Please be safe. It isn’t overly graphic but it is there.
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### The Worst Word in the World

** **

Upon first meeting Virgil, Logan had discovered three things about the hostage his boss had brought back to base.

One. He was smart. Smarter than most people Logan knew. Smart enough to at least understand a good portion of what Logan was saying. Clever enough that Logan thought he could be useful. Better that he work under guard in the lab and actually provide a service rather than rotting in a cell. Surprisingly enough Ms. Dragon Witch agreed with him. Even more surprisingly, Virgil had agreed too. Logan had never been able to adequately explain to his own satisfaction why. Was it boredom on Virgil’s part? 

Until today, that had been the theory that most made sense. Logan would have gone insane if he hadn’t been able to work and it stood to reason that someone as smart of Virgil would feel the same. Now, he wondered if there was another motive behind it all. The same motive that made him lie about not touching Logan’s tech. 

Two. He was loyal to his brother and there was little to no chance that he would ever willingly betray him. Or his friends. Despite later conversations with Virgil and the frequent insults that he threw at the heroes he ran around with, Logan never wavered from that thought. Virgil might insult his brother, question and mock everything he did from his fashion sense to the battles he picked - but that didn’t change the fact that he adored the Prince. And that he would do anything in order to help keep him safe. Even if the idiot never seemed to respect that. 

Which led into three...

He was the most stubborn person Logan had ever met. And considering the fact that Logan worked around super villains who never seemed to learn their lessons when fighting their hero, that was saying a lot. 

Logan really wished Virgil wasn’t so stubborn though. He would give a lot for the other man to just buckle and bend. Just this once. 

Ms. Dragon Witch wanted to hear him scream and she wasn’t going to stop until he did. Virgil appeared equally determined to deny her that sound. There were a couple of ways this ‘lesson’ would end, but none of them seemed promising from the perspective of Virgil. If only he would cry out. If only he would let her win this battle. It wasn’t the war. Letting her torture him to death out of some stupid stubborn spite would only result in Virgil’s death. How could that be a victory?

Even if she merely tortured him unconscious, the end result would be he was injured and she still enjoyed herself. And when did Logan start to think that being hurt to the point of being knocked out was ‘merely’ anything? It was still a terrible thing to happen. It was still something to avoid. Something bad. And yet Virgil persisted in refusing to behave. He was welcoming the pain because to him, it was better than the alternative. Had Logan stepped through a portal without noticing? Was he in some bizzaro land where that was a better thing? 

Or was this just some ‘hero’ thing that he didn’t understand?

Regardless, Ms. Dragon Witch was still hurting Virgil, whip rising and falling with a sickening speed. Leather cut deep into skin, and the rich scent of blood filled the air. Virgil’s back had to be a mess of bloody gashes by now and part of Logan was grateful that they were facing each other so he didn’t see it. The other part recognised that meant he had to look at Virgil’s face instead. Which meant his eidetic memory was committing every little flinch and twitch of pain in great detail. It was burning those images onto his brain so he would never forget them.

It felt far longer than the few minutes Logan knew it took but eventually, Ms. Dragon Witch lowered the whip and didn’t raise it again.

“There we are... ten lashes of the whip.” 

Throughout it all, Virgil didn't scream. He had moaned more than once. Had bucked and struggled in his captive position but he hadn’t made the noise that Logan knew his boss was longing to hear. Which had to mean this wasn’t over. She could be stubborn too and the whole point of this was to hurt them both.

Strange, how it hurt Logan. How he hated each blow more and more. It was something hot inside his chest, something burning through his veins. As though his very blood was on fire but that was a fanciful, ridiculous idea. Perhaps she had infected him with something. There were illnesses which burnt you up from the inside. Ones which could feel like this.

But also not like this. An illness would make him feel weak. It wouldn’t explain the anger. Or the way his breath caught against something forming in the back of his throat. It was a heavy lump of nothing. Bobbing up and down, making it hard for him to breathe without pain. 

Whatever it was, Logan did not enjoy the sensations in the slightest. 

Just as he didn’t enjoy the way Ms. Dragon Witch tilted her head. It was an artful pose, body half twisted towards him, hair falling over her shoulder. Something far too deliberate to be anything else. Even through the fire and the heat distorted air above it, Logan could make out that expression on her face. It wasn’t one of rage like he had expected. Instead, it was the look of someone who had thought up some new and cruel game to play. 

“Although... you looked away for three of them Dr. Logic. That means he gets three more. You need to watch the punishment you created, otherwise what is the point of it?”

“You never stated that was the rule!” Logan protested, mouth opening and closing a few times as he struggled to cope with her words. If this was what was going to happen every time, then Logan was rapidly rethinking his stance of having a lab partner. Or at least, one called Virgil.

That was a falsehood. Logan didn’t regret the time he spent with Virgil. He certainly didn’t regret all the time they had spent together and the many fascinating conversations they had partaken in. All he regretted was this moment. And this was not his fault. It wasn’t Virgil’s either. The only one to blame for this was the woman who was enjoying herself far too much. 

“No,” she agreed lightly. “I didn’t. But it is. So three more. Look away or flinch and it will just be added on.” 

The whip, so recently dipped to brush against the ground, was lifted again. The tip was muddied with blood. It mingled with the black of the leather, dried blood looking more like rust than anything else. Logan found himself almost captivated by it. Who would have thought that blood could dry so quickly on leather? He had never done tests, had never run the numbers but it seemed to have hardened into this flakey substance remarkably fast. 

“Ready for more?” 

Logan stared. There was nothing else he could do. He had to watch this torture now that he knew the rules of her game. Again, she brought the whip down harshly, leather slicing through skin. And again, Virgil stubbornly remained quiet. He bit down on his lip, Logan saw a flash of white teeth as he did. It kept him from screaming and that meant the game was going ahead. 

“Aw, poor little Virgil. I don’t think your brother is coming for you,” she whispered, leaning close so her hair brushed against the blood slowly oozing from his wounds now. 

“Aren’t they always supposed to arrive in the nick of time? Surely that would have been before... well, before any of these sessions. We could cut them to almost nothing if you would just accept that they aren’t going to save you. Dr. Logic’s actions would still mean you need to be punished but that is nothing compared to what you currently have to endure.” 

“They will come,” Virgil replied, voice as low as her own. Logan couldn’t tell if that was from pain or from a desire not to raise to the bait. Virgil got worried about things so easily. He had seen Virgil caught in the grip of a terrible panic attack more than once. The worst one had been shortly after he had arrived. There hadn’t appeared to be any trigger to the attack. One moment he had been fine - or as close to fine as Logan had been able to tell - and then the next he was shaking. Almost clawing at his neck as though there was some invisible rope wrapped around it. 

If he still worked for Mister Illusions that might be true. Ms. Dragon Witch didn’t possess those sorts of powers however. Nor did any of her minions. Which meant the blockage had been in Virgil’s mind alone. 

Logan had tried to help as best he could. He had read books on the subject of panic attacks. Which included various ways in which to combat them and bit by bit, he had been able to draw Virgil back into the moment. All for the sake of science of course. They couldn’t work if one of them was in the middle of a mental breakdown.

Virgil had never told him the reason for his panic attack. Logan had never asked. He had his own theories of course, and most of them revolved around Virgil’s status as a prisoner of a villain. Perhaps the correct thing to do would have been to report the incidents to his boss. She would have no doubt been delighted to have details of a weakness. Something for her to press against as if his mind was a mess of bruises. He didn’t and as a result, it had felt as though Virgil had trusted him a little more. At the very least, their conversations had been less biting after that. It had gradually become a true meeting of the minds. A mind that she seemed determined to waste. 

“No. They. Won’t.” Words were repeated slowly, as though talking to an idiot. Virgil was many things but an idiot was not one of them. Yet another thing that he and his boss appeared to disagree on. 

“I thought you were smart Virgil? Dr. Logic is always going on about how smart his new assistant is. How pleased he is that I captured you. Did you know he argued against me ransoming you back to your family? He didn’t want to waste your brain on them. Instead, he convinced me to keep you.” Ms. Dragon witch paused for a moment, a devious glint in her eyes as the words sunk in.

Logan wanted to scream. The word falsehood was ringing in his ears, growing louder and shriller by the second. He wanted to kick against the world and explain himself but the actual sound lodged itself halfway up his throat and refused to be said. 

Because it wasn’t a falsehood. 

Half truth. 

Logan had done that. He had argued and pleaded. For hours in fact. He had pulled out every stat about Virgil he could. Every little scrap of information that proved that Virgil was useful and was helping her, even if he didn’t want to. Logan had argued with all his force to sway her to his point of view, to keeping Virgil here. 

But that was because she had wanted to send him back to Prince and the others one piece at a time. Limb by limb. 

Funny how she didn’t mention that part. How she didn’t supply Virgil with all the necessary information for him to make an informed judgement on her words. 

Ms. Dragon Witch was clearly waiting for a response. Either verbal or visual. She always enjoyed seeing her strikes hit home. That had to be the only reason why Virgil was refusing to give it to her, why he stared at Logan without any emotion. There was no anger or hurt on his face but there was no way that the expressionless mask was the truth. Virgil had so many emotions. Like her, he was often ruled by them. Like her, they were more often than not negative ones. Unlike her however, Virgil never used them as an excuse to hurt others.

Himself, plenty of times. But never others. 

The pause stretched on. On and on. It began to feel unbearable. Something far beyond awkward. Whatever it was that she was waiting for, Virgil was still refusing to rise to the bait. Eventually, she moved, body shifting as she moved onto another topic. Always looking for somewhere to stick the dagger in. Figuratively speaking. At least, Logan hoped it remained figurative. There had been enough blood split already.

“Tish, tish. And look, now you’re bleeding all over my lovely clean outfit.”

The outfit, Logan couldn’t help but remember, that she had chosen for exactly this purpose. There was no other reason to wear something white to a bloody session. Not unless you wanted to show off the blood. He kept quiet however. Any words would only make things worse. 

“Still. I feel better now. Generous. How about I clean your wounds Virgil, hmm?”

“How about... you die in a fire?” Virgil croaked back, glaring up at her as though he wasn’t tied to a chair. Logan could almost admire his spirit. Almost, because he was still in a terribly weak position and his words would only serve to inflame her anger. 

Pun most certainly _not_ intended. 

“That,” Ms. Dragon Witch stated thoughtfully, “is a brilliant idea. Well. Part of it at least. Fire...” 

Flame sprang into life in the palm of her hand, flickering wildly. This was exactly why Logan had avoided speaking and giving her any sort of excuse. Not that Ms. Dragon Witch needed that - she had always been overly eager to show off the gifts which in her mind marked her out as 'special' and thus a leader. Logan always thought it was a mere quirk of genetics and nothing more. Just as some people had brown hair, and others black. Just as some were short, others tall.

Some could fly, some could not. Some took that to mean more than it did. Working for those sorts of people was how Logan put food on the table but their delusions of grandeur were always hard to deal with. First they had to achieve results. Only then could they properly claim themselves special and worthy. If she was as powerful as she always claimed, why was she still nothing more than one of a multitude of villains?

Why had Logan decided to work for a madwoman who could conjure fire out of her hands at the slightest whim?

When had that sounded like a reasonable, logical choice for him to make?

It must have done once, because otherwise he would never have agreed to this contract. Right now, however, he couldn’t think of a single reason as to why he would have wanted this. Why he would put himself in this situation. Her hand was lowering, the flames curling harmlessly around her fingers as it moved.

It wouldn’t be so benign against her victims skin. A single finger brushed down Virgil’s back, tracing one of the rich red lines the whip had left. The sickening scent of burnt flesh filled the air as Virgil twitched and trashed in his restraints. Even through the haze and the fire which still surrounded him, Logan could make out tear tracks on Virgil’s face. He could see the way his... associate had bitten so hard on his tongue and lip that blood was now leaking out of the corners of his mouth.

All out of some desire to stay silent. All because Logan had made a... _mistake._

Logan felt sick to his stomach.

“This is enough,” he stated firmly. This had to end. If it meant that he swallowed his pride and told her what she wanted to hear then so be it. It was just part of dealing with a boss who had a huge ego. He could pander to that if it meant she stopped her pointless torture. 

“Is it?” Ms. Dragon Witch actually paused in her sick games, eyeing Logan thoughtfully. Below her, Virgil panted, his head lowered. Inexplicably, Logan felt a sense of... relief, at that motion. At least he couldn’t see the pain in his expression any longer. Why would that create such an overwhelming rush of chemicals through his bloodstream as though his body was responding to something truly important? There was little time to ponder this newest feeling, because his boss was still talking. 

“Have you truly learned your lesson Dr. Logic? Are you willing to admit that you care for my toy? That you will do better in the future in order to avoid this from happening again. That you have a _weakness_?”

That last word made Logan recoil as though he had been the one injured by fire. Weakness. The most dangerous word in their world. Weakness meant control, it meant a loss of freedom. It meant losing everything that Logan held dear. Including any respect that he might have gained from the people he worked with. Or people he hoped to work with in the future. Like a bad reference, word of his ‘weakness’ would pass around the villain community. He would become a laughing stock.

If Virgil was his weakness, then Logan would be nothing more than another of her playthings. Something forever caught in the web of another. 

She didn’t give him the chance to reply but merely smiled. Something cold and sharp. The kind of expression which suited her actions.

“I thought not.” 

With that, her hand moved once more, finding yet more open wounds. She sealed them shut without any real care, letting the flames linger, burning undamaged skin as it went. Logan wouldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t. Even if that was the price she demanded. 

“Stop it! I... I adm-” 

Words were cut off by the sound of distant explosions. The noise had his boss spinning on her heels. Away from Virgil thankfully, fire sputtering and dying in her hand as she curled it into a fist.

“What was that?” Ms. Dragon Witch demanded. None of the henchmen lurking seemed to have an answer. A few shivered and cowered under her glare. Another rushed out of the room, presumably to look for someone that might have answers. Yet another pulled out a tablet and started tapping away at the screen. Not for the first time, Logan wished he wasn’t trapped in a circle of fire. He would be able to find out what had caused that sound. His natural curiosity was triggered and he wanted to know just as much as she did. 

Would he tell her if he did? A pointless question because before today, of course he would have done. And after today, she clearly didn’t trust him enough to let him discover the answer and so his loyalties couldn’t be put to the test.

A small part of Logan couldn’t help but wonder if the mere fact he had thought of the question at all was in actuality, answer enough. 

Pointless, pointless, _pointless_. This whole thing was just pointless on so many levels. Logan was still trapped within fire. Virgil was still injured. Ms. Dragon Witch was still standing with her henchmen, ignoring the two of them. Logan felt useless. Pointless. He felt everything that having a weakness might provide and this was intolerable. He wanted to do _something_ \- but there wasn’t anything to do. Not right now. 

A wet laugh sounded in the near silence of the room. It drew all eyes to the bloody figure of Virgil. He was still strapped to the chair. Still bleeding and burnt. In no way was his situation something to laugh about. Nothing good was happening in this room. There was no logical reason for Virgil to behave in the way he was now. Then again, Virgil rarely behaved in what Logan would consider a logical fashion.

And yet he was smiling. As though he knew something the rest of them didn’t.

“Oh Kaaaaren,” Virgil called out, the name elongating into far more syllables than it actually possessed. For someone that was beaten, he managed to sound strangely smug. Still wasn’t her name. Still made no sense. Virgil coughed, the sound rattling and as wet as the laugh. It made Logan want to wince but he didn’t dare look away. There was no way to know how she might punish Virgil further if he did. 

The noise of explosions sounded again, something in the base clearly reacting unhappily to something else. Except this time they seemed to be closer. The sound just made Virgil smile further. Lips stretched, the dry skin cracking a little as it did. 

“Knock, knock. I think my brother has come to call... and he sounds pissed.”


	4. Through Fire for You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time? What is time? What are days? The world has lost all meaning.
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me and being patient. We are back with chapter four! Ready for Roman to totally burst in and save the day? Yeah. About that. You’ll see. 
> 
> This is the second of two angst heavy chapters. So as a **WARNING** once more, there are descriptions of torutre here, blood, gore, fire, burning, wounds. Please be safe. It isn’t overly graphic but it is there.
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### Through Fire for You

** **

If Virgil had been hoping for a dramatic reaction to his words then he was not disappointed. Ms. Dragon Witch had stormed out of the room, screaming orders as she went. The henchmen and minions had all scrambled after her, leaving the two of them alone. It pained Logan to think it, but he knew they had been left unguarded because she didn’t view them as any kind of threat in their current predicament. He was trapped by fire and Virgil... well, Virgil was still cuffed to the chair. Even without the restraints however, it was unlikely that he would be in any state to properly move. Not with the injuries he had received. Or the lack of pain medication.

Outside, no doubt, would be chaos. Logan had been exceptionally lucky when it came to heroes attacking lairs. He had only been present once and even then, his lab had been located close to an escape route. He hadn’t even looked back. Logan certainly hadn’t taken part in any attempt to defend the base. He had heard enough stories to know that if a hero ever attacked a villain's lair head on, then the end result would be carnage. More often than not, it would be the villain who lost. 

Heroes were hampered by their morality. If they lost control more often, then they would have been able to wipe out the villians in a matter of battles. Of course, if they did that, then they would become villains themselves and it was all rather exhausting really. Rather useless. A dance that never ended, one song blending into the next.

Right now, something was ending. Petty perhaps, but he really hoped it was Ms. Dragon Witch and her deluded dreams of domination. Logan wanted the heroes to win. 

What a strange turn of events. 

Until he found out one way or the other, all Logan could do was sit there and wait. That, and think. 

He was good at that. At thinking. At reading the situation. Emotions might be complicated and confusing to him, but facts were facts. Reactions were easy to predict, to understand. Even if he might not get the process, Logan knew the end. Like Sherlock Holmes. But the actual Sherlock, not any of the television media versions. Or worse, the movie adaptations which seemed to imply he was lucky to get any progress in his cases at all considering how much of it he spent high or drunk. Ridiculous. 

What he could deduce now was that Virgil was in a very bad way. He was hardly moving. Head was lowered, his whole body slumped. All in all, he was far too limp for Logan’s liking. Every attempt to engage Virgil in conversation had turned out to be an abject failure. Virgil would try - if nothing else, he was still willing to try. But words were harder and harder to force from his lips until they had regressed to little more than grunts. Soon enough, even those sounds had stopped. 

Virgil needed help. Actual, right now, help. Not some mythical, in the distance help. Not the promise of soon, whenever his brother could be bothered to find him. Virgil needed something practical and he needed it now. 

Logan looked around once more.

The room was as empty as ever. Somewhere, out there, was Virgil’s brother. As much as Logan was loath to lose his... dare he say it... friend, he would rather lose him to his family than injury. He needed Prince to get here so that he could take Virgil and get him healed. Each passing second was just making the injuries linger. Letting the skin burn and rot, infection no doubt already setting in. Every drop of blood that trickled from Virgil’s mouth to fall onto the ripped fabric of his trousers made Logan that much more aware of how much the man had already lost. More than he should. 

Logan pulled his lab coat off, and fine. Nobody was here to help. Nobody but him, which meant he was going to have to do it. He should have known from the start that he was going to have to do it. If you want a job done right, do it yourself. Logan really wanted this job done correctly. 

Fingers were trembling as he lifted his coat a little, making a makeshift hood. Try as he might to wrap it around his head and shoulders, it barely covered him. It certainly wasn’t sturdy enough to protect him against fire and yet his plan involved him literally running through flames. Logan was going to trust a couple of pieces of clothing to protect his whole body as he crossed over the ring of fire in order to escape it.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. 

The alternative, however, was to sit here and wait. Logan had done more than enough of that. There wasn’t much time left, not if he wanted Virgil to remain intact. And Logan very much wanted Virgil to remain as whole as possible. Virgil was as close to a weakness that he had and Logan had to save him.

With a deep breath, Logan pitched himself forward.

It was more falling than running, stumbling through the ring of fire that had trapped him and out into the main part of the room once more. The flames had licked at his body for only a few seconds, and yet those moments had felt like an eternity. It was excruciating. Fire didn’t have emotion. One of the many things he could appreciate about it. It was heat and an energy source, nothing more. Logan certainly wasn’t the fanciful type and yet if he was, he would have been forced to describe those flames as angry.

They had eaten through his jacket in the mere seconds it had taken Logan to pass through them, the scientist tossing the burning ragged remains away with a yelp. That wasn’t all the fire had done though, as much as he might have naively hoped otherwise. 

Burns littered his arms and neck from where the flames had been able to touch his skin. In the back of his mind, Logan catalogued the injuries. He logged the sensations that were shooting through his body and compared them to all the various texts he had read about the subject. Words on paper didn’t really do it justice of course. The way his skin was tight, pulling painfully with every breath - no amount of reading could ever truly explain how it felt. The way in which his whole body suddenly felt several sizes too small for his skeleton, as if the bones were about to burst out. It went beyond unpleasant. 

Still, the burns didn’t seem as deep as the ones she had used on Virgil. He could move. They sizzled and stung but the smell of burnt flesh wasn’t as strong. They required treatment but not right now. It would be possible to wait a short time and still recover fully. His friend - his weakness - didn’t have that luxury. The thought spurred him on, Logan forcing himself to move and ignore the pain. Move and get closer to Virgil.

“Virgil? Virgil!” 

“...Doc?” Virgil’s voice was thick, heavy with pain but in that moment it was the best sound Logan heard. It even went some way to alleviating the pain of his skin. Slightly. The sooner he got Virgil out of here and treated his injuries, the sooner Logan would then be able to look at his own. 

It was child's play to unlock the cuffs and thus Virgil. Step two complete. So far, Logan’s plan was going well. Next step was getting them out of this room and back into the lab. His beloved lab. Which had all manner of first aid kits and security. There were enough machines and traps there that Logan should be able to keep even Ms. Dragon Witch at bay for a while. Long enough, so he trusted, for Prince to get to them. 

Dr. Logic, making a plan which relied on a hero coming to his rescue. What was the world coming to?

“Woah, wait, Logan, how?” Virgil’s voice had grown stronger. That familiar spark was back in his eyes, questioning, searching. It was almost comforting in its own way. He had grown used to this frustrating, contrary man. To the way he would argue and pick apart points, helping to reshape things into a better finished product. The way Virgil always refused to take the easy path, but would stubbornly stick to what he held to be true. Or right. 

It was only by their absence that Logan had realised how much he had come to rely on them. How Virgil brightened his day just by being in it. Logan saw the moment it clicked into place, the second that Virgil actually took in the fresh burns and what they had to mean. The way his eyes widened in undisguised horror. The terror, the worry and - _oh_.

It appeared as though there was more weakness in this room than previously thought. 

Thank goodness Ms. Dragon Witch wasn’t around to witness this. She never needed to know that Virgil saw Logan as a weakness of his own. Logan himself wasn’t sure what to make of it - how did a villian react to knowing a hero would do anything to try and protect them? Virgil might not call himself a hero or have said as much in so many words but Logan could tell by a mere glance that his friend was working himself up into a fit of concern over him. 

Each time he thought about it, it became easier. Friend. He - he had a friend. 

One that needed help.

“No questions Virgil. Not right now. We need to get out of this room before Ms. Dragon Witch returns. Come on, we can take shelter in the lab while we consider our next move. The security system I designed will protect us.” 

“I don’t think she’d... approve of that,” Virgil forced out, eyes still fixed on a particularly large burn mark on his shoulder, creeping up his collar bone. Logan blinked once, twice. Yes, Virgil had a point there. Ms. Dragon Witch would certainly not approve of it. Wasn’t that one of the reasons for doing this?

“Yes, well. She may consider this my resignation, effective immediately. In lieu of payment for my work this past month, I’m taking you and we are both getting out of here.”

It felt good to say that. Liberating in a way - in more ways than one. He had been considering it for so long now, that it felt good to actually say the words out loud. To have made the choice and such indecisiveness was not like him usually. It felt even better to know he was going to take Virgil with him. Even if that was against the rules and thus something he would have normally been opposed to.

Virgil was watching him, a small, crooked grin on his face. Somehow, that made his nerves settle. He was breaking the rules - hers and his own - but it was for a worthy cause. If the rules no longer fit the situation, then the rules would just have to be changed. 

“Come on,” Logan urged again, and there really wasn’t time for this conversation. It surely wouldn’t be long before even Ms. Dragon Witch realised that she had left them unguarded. Before she came to the conclusion that having Virgil in her sights would be far more useful. Before the obvious occurred to her and she decided that if she was going to survive this, she would need to use Virgil as a bargaining chip. And she couldn’t do that without him. 

“But... my brother...” 

“Prince will be able to find us. He was able to follow your trail thus far.” Logan replied. After another moment of hesitation, Virgil nodded, slowly letting Logan pull him to his feet. For a long moment they swayed together, before taking a single step away from the chair and towards freedom.

A step was all they managed. 

With a strangled cry, Virgil buckled, his body sagging heavily against Logan’s own. The added weight was enough to send them both back on the floor. Logan was a scientist. He moved great weights with his mind, he delibrated on hefty problems. His skills lay very firmly in matters of the mind and not physical exercise. That was one of the reasons why you hired minions. People who had talents of their own, but talents that were very different to his own.

He certainly didn’t have the physical strength needed to carry Virgil if the other man couldn’t even support his own weight.

“Virgil,” Logan tried yet again, shifting them both into an upright position. “We have to move. _Please_.” 

“Sor...sorry Logan. I don’t think I’ll be able to, uh, get out of this room.” Virgil’s tone was apologetic, sheepish even. As though he was personally responsible for the state his body was in. Sure, he could have given in to Ms. Dragon Witch, could have spared himself some injury but knowing her she would have pushed the point regardless. Perhaps more importantly, it would not have been Virgil, if he had given in.

“That’s fine. That’s fine, I can work within these limitations. I’m Dr. Logic...” Logan mumbled to himself, words barely loud enough for himself to hear, let alone Virgil. So they couldn’t get out of this room. That. That was less than ideal. Still workable though. 

“This is still Ms. Dragon Witch’s base...” 

“You should call her Karen too,” Virgil suggested, interrupting his train of thought. “She doesn’t deserve the honorific title.”

“Karen isn’t her name though?” Logan finally voiced the question that had been bothering him all this time. 

“Karen is more...” Virgil trailed off for a moment, biting at his bottom lip as he considered his words. “It’s a state of mind. Remind me to introduce you to the concept of a Karen later, you’ll end up agreeing with me.”

“That sounds fascinating, but perhaps later.” Much, much later. Not that Logan could visualise a situation in which they could have that talk. Once Prince rescued his brother, he would undoubtedly lock Logan up. At least until Logan used some of his contacts to escape. The best outcome would be Prince being grateful enough to him that he was willing to look the other way and allow him to leave. Thus skipping a few steps. 

The end result would be the same however. Virgil would be home and Logan would be looking for a new job.

At least Virgil would be home. Before they could reach that stage however, there was still the matter of getting to a midway point of safety. It took far longer than Logan would have liked to reach the corner of the room. Each step had been accompanied by soft little sounds of pain. Grunts and gasps that Virgil had seemed intent on trying to suppress as much as he could. As though Logan was someone he had to hide his weakness from, as though he was ashamed of it. Logan had no idea what to say to comfort or reassure him, and so he had avoided saying anything at all.

With a soft sigh of relief, Virgil sank down against the wall, letting it support him as he did. It was hardly the bed and medical supplies hooked up to Virgil that Logan had originally envisioned but this was still better than the chair. 

Anything was better than the chair. 

Nodding to himself, Logan turned his attention to what looked like another piece of wall. It was the same colour and shape as the rest, but Logan knew the truth. There was a control panel behind here, one that he had installed himself, at the urging of Ms. Dragon Witch. She always was paranoid. Who knew that her own paranoia would count against her in the end?

He pulled the panel off. It was amazing what adrenaline could do in the right circumstances. Logan still doubted he could carry Virgil, but now that he had access to the computer once more, he didn’t need to. Now he had access to the computer, he could do anything. This was his programming after all. It was laughably easy to connect to the system in his lab and instruct one of the many machines in there to transport a few items to him. A first aid kit and most importantly, his laptop. Once he plugged that into the mainframe, there really would be no stopping them.

The door to the room opened, a small, four wheeled droid like machine whirring in of its apparent own accord. It made a beeline over to the pair of them, the various objects on top rattling slightly as it did. He recognized his own laptop among them, complete with the wires needed to do his job. Excellent. 

Rapidly, Logan connected the cables. He even allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction once he was properly in the system, turning the defence grid on in this room and coding it to protect the two of them alone. And not Ms. Dragon Witch. Wouldn’t that be amusing in a dark way, if she came to try and collect Virgil, only to have her base turn against her? There was no way Logan was going to let her touch Virgil ever again, that much he was sure of. Virgil’s attention, meanwhile, was on the machine which gave a little beep, the same sound it made every time it completed a task. The same sound Virgil always insisted was the little robot saying hello. It always made Virgil smile.

“Hi Tom,” Virgil croaked, lifting a hand to rest it against the side of the machine, the faintest shadow of a smile upon his lips. Logan was torn between frustration and relief that he was still Virgil. The frustration won out, although muted. 

“For the last time, that is not his name. He is a machine. The Transport of Material, machine. His primary purpose is to transfer things from one location to another.”

“Yet you called him a he...” Virgil pointed out slyly and Logan - well, he hadn’t realised he had done that. It had to be a sign of how stressed he was, that he had allowed himself to slip into Virgil’s habits. Normally, Logan was good at referring to the machine as an it, since it lacked any semblance of being sentient. This was not an argument he was going to win today. It also wasn’t one they had time to indulge in. Those were the only reasons he stopped debating it. And nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to keep Virgil smiling. Or keep him distracted from the pain.

“Moving on. Let’s try and get you patched up shall we?” Logan instructed. He ignored the way Virgil’s smile grew wider or the way something inside of him seemed to settle a little at the sight. Instead, he turned all of his attention on the task at hand, shifting a little so he was crouched at Virgil’s back. That way he was able to take in the wounds properly for the first time. 

Which presented Logan with a whole new problem. 

Where on earth was he going to start with the injuries? With only a brief glance he could see three major ones that needed immediate attention. Who knew how many more he would find once he started working? Blood was drying over skin and fabric, the dark red making it impossible to tell what was open wound, what was sealed with fire and what was merely blood staining skin. Not to mention the blood would fuse skin and cloth together if he let it dry all the way.

“I’m going to have to cut your shirt off...” Logan told him softly. A shudder was the only response, Virgil’s back spasming painfully at the motion, muscles twitching. There had to be something Logan could do, some way he could make this less traumatic. 

The idea occurred to him as rapidly as the action did. Logan pulled away from him suddenly, speeding back to the centre of the room. As fast as he had left, he was back, offering Virgil his purple patchwork hoodie. 

“Here. You cannot wear it right now but I know how much you value your jacket.” 

“Thank’s L...” Virgil mumbled, slowly reaching out to take the offered item of clothing, holding it tight. As Logan had predicted - as he had hoped, as much as he loathed the use of that word - the jacket helped. It was Virgil’s comfort item, one of the only things he possessed from before he had been taken. It mattered a lot to him and while Logan was surprised that Ms. Dragon Witch hadn’t seen fit to take it, he was pleased she had not. 

Logan got to work.

It was even worse than he feared. It didn’t take long to cut away the shreds that remained of the back of Virgil’s shirt, peeling it away with only the softest whimper from his friend. Wiping away blood just unearthed more and more cuts. Dozens of tiny ones criss crossing his back from where the whip had flicked and just caught him whenever she moved it. 

The larger ones were the ones he focused on however. Logan tried to ignore the angry marks as best he could. It was the ones that were deep that needed attention. Antiseptic wipes and wash were followed by bandages and bandaids. For the burns, he gently rubbed in some soothing burn cream from the kit. Just touching them made Virgil’s back tense horribly, but Logan had no choice. Under the visible layer of skin, Virgil’s flesh would still be burning. He had to put that fire out, even though it caused pain. 

The kit was getting more and more empty and Logan was barely halfway done. He needed to get another one, but it had been a while since they had been left alone here. The battle was bound to be raging beyond the layer grid he had turned on. It wouldn’t be safe to go out there, not right now.

As though in answer to his silent thoughts, the door to the room exploded inward in an impressive - and over the top - display of force. Sparks shot out from where the doors had been hanging mere moments ago. Out in the corridor, Logan could hear the distant sounds of a fight still being waged, although it was impossible to make out any details. It was impossible to see anything else, thick grey smoke billowing in through the gap from whatever had blown open the door in the first place. 

It was the sort of entrance that only a hero or villain would make. 

For the first time, Dr. Logic found himself hoping it was a hero that had found them.


	5. Holding out for a Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! The halfway point already! Time to finally see who is on the other side of that door. I’m sure it will be no surprise to anyone. Just as I’m even more sure that we’ve got the rest of the story being lovely healing where nothing bad ever happens again. 
> 
> Thank you to all the comments and kudos, if you enjoy my writing, please keep them coming, it really means the world to me. 
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### Holding out for a Hero

** **

Help was finally here.

Or else Ms. Dragon Witch was here, in which case Logan and Virgil were probably dead. Then again, the two of them had been dead from the moment Logan had made the conscious choice to defy her and handed his notice in. Their only chance was holding out long enough for Prince and his bunch of moronic heroes to arrive. 

Nobody had stepped through the gap yet for whatever reason. Perhaps they were engaged in the battle that he could still hear more prominently that he had first thought. Perhaps they were waiting for the smoke to clear before entering in order to have a clear view. Perhaps they were just savouring the moment and enjoying themselves.

Either way, it gave Logan a few precious seconds, ones he couldn’t afford to waste. 

Eyes shifted away from where the door had been and to the laptop lying a few feet away. If he could get his hands on that, then he could make sure that they went down fighting. There was even a slim chance - about a seventeen percent probability - that he would be able to over power Ms. Dragon Witch. There was surprise on his side, as well as all the various programs within the base that he could turn against her. Taking out Ms. Dragon Witch wouldn’t get them out of here though, there would still be the rest of her henchmen. 

Something else was wrong. Something lingering in the back of his mind, a low worry that was nagging at him. Something that demanded he pay attention to it and not the door or the laptop. There was a change in the room, a change that had occurred almost at the same time as the explosion. 

Virgil wasn’t talking. 

Logan had expected him to make some sort of comment on the explosion if nothing else. He should be calling out insults or greetings to whoever was on the other side. Why wasn’t he talking?

Even the laptop and plans of escape, of defending himself were forgotten in the face of that new worry. Logan shifted a little, moving across so that he was beside Virgil instead of behind him. 

His friend was still slumped against the wall, one of his cheeks pressed up against it, distorting the shape of his face. Hands were clinging onto the hoodie, holding it close. His eyes were closed. His eyes were _closed_ and he wasn’t talking. Or moving. 

At least his chest was rising and falling in a steady pattern. Virgil was very obviously breathing and he couldn’t have just fallen asleep. 

Unconscious then. 

Less than ideal. Logan needed to know if there were any more injuries he wasn’t aware of, he needed to know if he was accidentally pressing too hard on any of the visible ones. He had to make sure Virgil wasn’t suffering from any sort of brain damage. Just because he hadn’t seen Virgil take a blow to the head, didn’t mean it hadn’t happened before he was brought into the room. He needed to monitor his friend’s health and it was impossible to do that now he was unconscious. 

It was a bad sign, wasn’t it, that he had passed out. Virgil had slipped into the dark so quietly as well. There hadn’t been any struggle that Logan had noticed, no noise or other sign that Virgil was losing his grip on awareness. Just tensing with pain one moment and unconscious the next. 

Logan didn’t know what to do now. 

He always prided himself on knowing what to do next. The world was like a giant chess board, and he, a grand chess master. It was easy to look at a situation and have multiple ideas of what he should do. Now though... now it was as though the board had vanished right in front of him, replaced by rising waves. Everywhere was foggy, strange shapes replacing familiar landmarks. 

Should he try and wake Virgil? Should he focus on the possible threat out there? If he did one, he opened himself to danger from the other choice. Neither felt like the right choice, not in the way that Logan had grown used to understanding. Seconds were ticking past, his advantage vanishing in a series of breaths and yet still Logan found himself paralysed. Unable to do anything but stare helplessly at the unconscious form of Virgil. 

“Get away from him!” 

The voice wasn’t one Logan knew. 

It was full of rage and fury. It was the sort of voice that would have fitted perfectly with a villian if the subject had been anything else. There had been something else there though, under all of that anger. Fear. Desperation. The sort of shout that a loved one might scream, not someone about to commit evil.

Slowly, Logan turned his head. 

In the doorway stood a man he had never seen before. At least, never in person. Logan had seen plenty of footage of the man. He had seen him foil bank robberies. Save citizens in peril. Face off against countless villains and their plans, only to emerge the victor. Quite often with the aid of two other heroes, but he had been the one leading the charge. There had even been a few seconds of grainy footage of him being knocked down. Being pushed too close to defeated, to wounded. 

Logan had never seen him look as ragged as he did right now however. He had never seen him as broken or worried as he looked standing there. The normally pristine white tunic was singed a little, soot darkening the edges of it. Hair that in all the photos was always carefully styled in place, hung looser. As if combing it hadn’t ranked high enough on the list of priorities and really there was no excuse for poor hygiene. 

There was no doubt in his mind. This, at long last, was Virgil’s brother. It had taken him long enough.

“Prince, I presume?” Logan inquired. The hero didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on Virgil’s still frame. 

Logan couldn’t really blame him. He had spent all this time looking for Virgil. Prince had broken into a base and rampaged his way through it only to enter a room to discover his brother unconscious and bleeding. And with a stranger hovering over him. Logan would have been surprised if Prince hadn’t been upset at the situation. Or if he hadn’t drawn completely the wrong conclusion from it. He did wish, however, that Prince would stop looking at him as though he was about to ram a spike through Virgil’s body. 

“I mean your brother no harm. I’ve been waiting for you.” 

The words didn’t cause the reaction that Logan had expected. He had predicted some residue hostility of course. A little bit of doubt because they were in the middle of a villain's secret lair. Still, the overall reaction should have been relief. 

Not a narrowing of eyes and tensing of muscles. As if Logan had uttered threats instead of platitudes. 

“You’re Dr. Logic. You’re the reason she took him in the first place and yet you have the nerve to sit there with him bleeding all over you and say you mean him no harm?” Prince snapped out. He still hadn’t moved from his spot in the doorway and Logan knew it was partly because he hadn’t lowered the laser grid to let him enter safely.

After that comment, he wasn’t really sure if he wanted to. It sounded as though Prince was eager to cause him physical harm out of some misguided belief that he was to blame. Personally to blame and not just blamed for being in the area at the time. The idea that he could actually be blamed for what had happened... it made Logan furious. This was his friend. His only friend. Not only his friend, but his lab partner. Virgil’s brain alone would have meant that Logan did whatever he could in order to protect him. And now this... this... _hero_ had the nerve to blame him? After everything Logan had done? 

“I... I am not the reason! You’re the hero. You’re the idiot who put Virgil in harm's way! Your brother is a genius, a wonderful man who deserves better than to be in the firing line. She took him in order to use him against _you_ , she took him to hurt _you_. If you had shown even an ounce of common sense, none of this would have happened! You’re not the only hero with family and yet it is Virgil she was able to get to!” Logan couldn’t help but snap, reeling off all the reasons that had been bubbling away in the back of his mind. 

“Karen said she took him so you’d have a playmate. Because you wanted some help and needed someone smart to commit dasteredly crimes with!” 

“Again with this Karen!” 

There were many things Logan hated. The knowledge that there was some inside joke he was not privy to was merely one on a long list. 

He tried not to let it bother him. He had been on the outside looking in for the majority of his life. It wasn’t an excuse or the reason he turned to crime. Logan had always hated those people who used their sad pasts as a justification for whatever it was they chose to do with their lives. How they had been treated when young did not excuse them from behaviour now. Logan didn’t go around crying about how unfair it was to be excluded and degraded by his peers. He had refused to let that sort of thinking eat away at him. 

So what if everyone had their own little jokes that they never bothered to explain to him. So what if growing up he would often be excluded from parties or other events? If he was included, it was normally out of guilt on a parents part. Really, Logan should have told them to save themselves the bother. He was perfectly content to be by himself. And if he wasn’t, that was still not the reason he had decided to take up a life of crime. 

“Let me have my brother. Stay away from him or else.” If looks could kill - an improbable, but not impossible situation considering the fact people possessed super powers - then Logan would be dead on the floor right now. The same with the tone of voice. It did not encourage him to turn off the security system. 

Perhaps he - or more accurately Virgil - had been wrong.

Logan had been working off the not unreasonable belief that Virgil’s brother would be a useful ally. That despite the rants, Virgil had been correct in describing Prince as someone they could talk to. He had even attempted, once, to convince Logan that he should turn traitor and join them. He had tried to convince him that there would be space for someone like him. It had seemed impossible. It certainly wasn't something Logan had been interested in at the time. And yet now, he was betraying his side. And Prince was certainly not measuring up to the hope Virgil had invested in him. 

He should have realised that Virgil would be an unreliable witness when it came to his own brother. That he would be blinded by love and miss the important flaws. Logan wasn’t sure anymore if he could trust Prince. More importantly, he wasn’t sure if he could trust Virgil to Prince, and what if something happened to his friend because he turned him over to his brother? Logan had never had anyone he could call a friend before. He was loath to give it up on the vague hope that Prince might calm down.

“I am not going to harm Virgil, you back off.” 

“Woah, what is going on here?” 

Another new voice. Another hero came into view to stand beside Prince. Another one he didn’t know personally but recognized the heart logo on his chest. Morality. Of all the heroes that had to show up, why did it have to be Mortality? If there was any hero that was directly opposed to Logan, any hero that could become his personal enemy, it would be this one. They were as dissimilar as it was possible for two people to be. Morality was all about _feelings_. 

All about trying to connect to people, to get them to talk about how they were feeling inside. He was the sort of hero that would buy a sandwich to give to the person who had just tried to hold up the store. The one who went to all the parole hearings and spoke about remorse and rehabilitation. All that rubbish. The one that would probably have a field day with every two bit villian who blamed their past for their actions.

Prince gave a distinctly unregal like squark, waving his arm in the direction of Logan. 

“That... that villian. He is holding Virgil hostage and he has the nerve to claim that he doesn’t want to hurt him! Look at my brother, you call that unharmed?” 

“I am not holding Virgil hostage. I am trying to protect him and that oaf looks as though he would break us both without breaking a sweat. How do I know he will be able to look after him correctly? Virgil was taken on his watch!”

It almost amused Logan, the way his words made Prince’s face change colour. The hero's skin was growing more and more red with each word. More and more worked up, which surely only proved Logan’s point and his fears about the sort of damage Prince could do without even meaning to. A loss of emotions was a dangerous thing. Morality turned to stare at him and Logan pushed down the illogical desire to hold Virgil close. 

This wasn’t the enemy. It was a moron, but it wasn’t the enemy.

There was a strange expression on his face. It was almost... a lack of expression. Carefully blank in a way that had to be on purpose. Morality was holding himself back. Logan hadn’t realised that the hero was capable of controlling his emotions like that. He didn’t think he liked it. Mortality was meant to be easy to understand. And thus easy to control. He reacted purely on emotion, on the heart and what he believed to be right or wrong. To have him stare in such a blank, calculating manner made the hairs on the back of Logan’s neck stand on end.

Assuming he ever got out of this intact, he was going to have to ensure that the files on Morality were updated to include this new behaviour. Morality sighed softly, eyebrows pinching into an expression at last. Somewhere between worry and condescending. 

“Dr. Logic, if you mean what you say, then let us through without us having to break the system. I know Prince looks... angry, but I won’t let him hurt you and we need to check on Virgil,” Morality offered, his voice honey and sweet. Too sweet. Too perfect. If Logan didn’t know better, he would have thought that Morality was using his powers, but the shield was still in effect which meant nothing was getting through. Not even feelings. Prince gave a loud, unimpressed snort, which almost rivalled the squark from before in ridiculousness. 

“Please Morality, as if he would have the guts to do that. Hypnos will be here soon and the three of us will be able to overpower this defense net without risking any further harm to Virgil.” 

So that was why Prince hadn’t moved closer yet. He was worried about traps or failsafes. Or maybe just worried that Logan would do something to hurt Virgil if he tried to get closer. Waiting for backup was a smart plan but they didn’t have the time for that. 

_Virgil_ didn’t have time for that.

“I hope you’re right about your brother,” Logan muttered, glancing over at Virgil. His friend didn’t respond and Logan wasn’t sure why he had expected him to. Perhaps the idotic antics of the heroes was rubbing off on him. A truly terrifying thought. Logan reached out, tapping a couple of buttons on the laptop. The red lasers fizzled a little, hissing before vanishing from sight as they powered down. The movement made pain flare up 

“You found him yet?” A third voice. Hypnos no doubt. He was hovering in the shadows behind the other two, making it impossible for Logan to take in any features or details. Which made it impossible to know for sure if he was right or not. How very frustrating. 

“Dr. Logic is holding him hostage but I’m going to save him.” Prince announced, apparently oblivious to the fact that Logan was not doing that, and in fact, had shown a degree of trust in lowering his only method of protection from Ms. Dragon Witch. Logan was far more concerned with her reaction to his actions, than these heroes. They all behaved in the same manner in the end. They all tried to be ‘good’. As though it was some measurable, unchangeable thing. 

“Kiddos, stop this,” Morality instructed, voice suddenly firm. It was the kind of voice that even Logan was half inclined to listen to. It spoke of authority, of respect. Every good father that had ever been. Morality’s power at work? He could affect people’s moods, could shift emotions. It was disconcerting to realise that he wasn’t immune to such a thing. Even worse somehow to have a working theory which implied Morality would be willing and able to do it to his friends. Morality took a step forward. 

“Dr. Logic just lowed the lasers which were protecting them from everyone. Now, come on. Virgil needs proper medical attention, we have to get him out of here.” 

“What about him,” Prince asked, jutting his chin out in the direction of Logan. Morality hesitated for a fraction of a second before apparently coming to a decision, expression hardening into one of resolute determination. 

“We bring him with us.”

Logan stared at the three heroes in shock. That... that was not either of the outcomes that he had anticipated. How _dare_ the heroes come up with a solution that was not one he had already thought of? If he was surprised at Morality’s words then it was nothing compared to Prince’s reaction. The other hero made another loud, spluttering sound. It was as though he was swallowing air rather than merely inhaling it. And then promptly gagging on it as a result. 

Not for the first - and no doubt, not for the last - time, Logan wished Virgil was awake. If only so he could tell him if this was normal behaviour or not. And perhaps how to make it stop. Prince wasn’t finished being ridiculous it seemed, arms waving around in some stupid windmil motion. 

“Morality, you cannot be serious! That’s Dr. Logic! You know. A Bad. Guy. I know you have a habit of wanting to adopt strays but there has to be a line! And in case you’ve forgotten, the line is way before people who kidnap my brother!”

“Is it though?” That sounded like the newest hero to arrive, the one Logan was still pretty sure was Hypnos. He had only been around for about six months and they were still waiting on an official report as to the extent of his powers. As well as any personal details they could gleam. Logan wasn’t expecting much - discovering Prince had a brother called Virgil was the best they had ever achieved when it came to any of the others. 

They still didn’t even know Prince’s real name. There was some reasoning behind why they didn’t dig deeper but quite frankly in Logan’s opinion it was a dumb reason and so he had long ago forgotten it. Then again, Ms. Dragon Witch also disregarded that reason, which was one of the reasons behind why she had enjoyed torturing Virgil so much. Partly to learn his name. So perhaps Logan found himself more on the side of keeping the heroes identities secret than he had originally thought. 

Yet another reason - as though Logan needed one - as to why he wasn’t enjoying this whole situation. He disliked having his well formed opinions questioned, even by himself. Back to the matter at hand then. Back to something he could be more comfortable thinking about and thus more useful. Back to the problem of Hypnos. 

The current theory was that he somehow needed the shadows in order for his powers to work. A passable theory considering the link between darkness and sleeping. Another, less accepted one was the idea that Hypnos was simply not comfortable with his powers or the attention he received as a result of his actions.

Logan had never heard of a shy hero before and from what behaviour they had been able to log from Hypnos, he still hadn’t. Hypnos enjoyed the show far too much. He enjoyed pushing people’s buttons, as the phrase went. Virgil had taught him that. Virgil would know what to do here. He would understand the reason behind the mocking tone in Hypnos’ voice. What was more, he would explain it too so Logan wasn’t left on the outside, looking in yet again. 

“Don’t,” Prince threatened with a hiss, the intensity of that single word surprising Logan. The red and white hero closed his eyes for a second as though trying to mentally compose himself. A futile task surely, because one would need a working brain in order to achieve that. 

It was probably a good thing that none of them possessed mind reading powers. 

The brown eyes of Prince opened once more, briefly meeting Logan’s own. There was such anger in them, so much barely restrained fury. The animalistic rage of someone that could see a loved one in pain and danger. Who hated the sight. Logan couldn’t help but hunch up slightly in response and avert his gaze. Like some defensive animal under the power of that stare. There was little doubt in his mind that given the slightest excuse, Prince would lash out and act on those emotions raging through him. Looking at it from a logical perspective, he couldn’t deny that it made some sense.

To someone of limited intelligence at least, who saw only the surface issues of course. Who could ignore everything else because emotion ruled them. 

Moving his upper body had been a mistake, one that managed to distract him even from the glare. His neck and shoulders were burning now, a fire raging deeper inside of him. Every little twitch and breath only reminded him of how badly injured he actually was. 

“Prince... not now. I’ll explain later. I promise. Right now we have to get them out of here before it’s too late.” Morality had shifted into a pleading tone now, almost nasally in tone. It was nauseating. Yet, amazingly, it appeared to work, Prince’s shoulders sagging in defeat. 

“On your head be it,” he warned before shifting his attention once more towards Logan. “Come on nerd, let’s go. One wrong step and you will regret it. I’ll take Virgil. _Now_.”

It seemed like too much energy to argue with him now. To try and explain yet again that this whole exercise had been to attempt to reunite the brothers. Prince seemed determined to willfully misinterpret everything he was doing and see it in the worst possible light. Without any further protest, Logan let him take Virgil. At least he was gentle with his unconscious brother, so tenderly cradling his still form against him. In Prince’s arms, Virgil looked so tiny, so frail. But it was Prince he was with. Someone who unconditionally loved him. Who wasn’t going to hurt him as Ms. Dragon Witch had. 

Virgil was with his family now. Virgil was safe. Logan had completed his task. 

He climbed slowly to his feet, swaying a little once he finally stood. He felt so tired. So very tired and this had been a terrible last few hours. The world was growing increasingly dim around the edges. Each blink seemed to take longer and longer, as though his eyelids didn’t want to reopen.

“Uh... guys?” 

Strange. Hypnos seemed worried about something. What was there to be worried about now? They had clearly driven Ms. Dragon Witch away if all three of them were able to group safely in a room. Nothing had come to attack them since Prince had first arrived which also pointed to the fight being over. They had Virgil now. He was in his brother’s arms and hopefully going to get the medical care he needed. Everything had been resolved. Why was there a cause for concern?

There was a strange whining noise in the air. Something high pitched and unpleasant. It reminded Logan a little of alarms in his lab, although it wasn’t quite right. Alarm in general though... yes, it was an alarm. A cause for alarm? It was something bad, that much, he was sure.

He wanted to ask them where it was coming from and if they could possibly make it stop. Logan’s tongue refused to work though, as heavy and as unresponsive as the limbs that were dragging him back down to the ground. His brain was slowing down in time to the rest of him and that was perhaps the scariest thing of all. Logan was used to having a brain that could work twice as fast as the smartest other person in the room and yet right now he felt... mundane. Ordinary. 

There was just enough energy to realise that of course, he was falling unconscious before he did just that, slumping into an undignified heap on the ground.


	6. The Moral Dilemma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Apologises for skipping a week, I was not in a good mental head space and honestly even the effort required to edit and post the chapter was beyond me. But we are back now! With chapter six and the start of the aftermath of Logan’s choices.
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### The Moral Dilemma

** **

Logan expected to wake up.

These were heroes after all. They weren’t the sort to kill an unconscious man, even if one of them thought he had hurt his brother. The other two were on hand to stop Prince from giving in to the darker side of his powers. It was every hero’s nightmare, that they might give in to the temptation that their powers offered them. There was such a fine line between hero and antihero after all. Or vigilante. And once they had made that distinction, it was often very easy to slide further and further down. Until you were the very thing you had professed to hate all this time. It was a predictable story that he had seen play out so many times. 

It was right up there with ‘I had a bad childhood’ to attempt to excuse why people like him did what they did. Prince was fully capable of falling, especially when his brother was in danger. The other two would make sure that didn’t happen. That wasn’t a concern that had flashed through his mind in those last few brief moments of awareness. Logan had been far more worried that he might hit his head and cause some irreparable brain damage. 

So yes, waking up to find his wounds had been treated was just as he had expected. Still, Logan didn’t really expect to wake up in a comfortable bed. 

Without any restraints. 

He blinked a couple of times, staring up at a soft cream ceiling. Everything was blurred but then he was no doubt not wearing his glasses so that was another thing to be expected. It was still a lot more than he had anticipated and where were the handcuffs? Where were the hard beds, the grunts and howls of other inmates who always seemed to think that making a scene was the best way to get the attention they craved?

A prison hospital then?

No, there weren’t any guards and it was egotistical of him no doubt, but Logan expected guards. He might not be a super villain on the level of Ms. Dragon Witch, but he was still higher than your average run of the mill grunt. He had his own name, his own history. There were a few minor heroes that considered him their personal nemesis. Which, in all honesty, was flattering but Logan didn’t have time for those sort of vendettas. He was far too busy with his research to get involved in actually fighting. That was best left to grunts or top tier villains. 

A noise had him turning his head to the side, in order to stare at the side of the bed and the person sitting beside it. They had to have him on some quality painkillers, because Logan hadn’t so much as thought to look beyond the ceiling to try and work out where he was. He hadn’t sensed another person in the room and normally Logan was much more aware of his surroundings than this. He had a personal bubble that he was comfortable within, one that he rarely allowed people to enter. Even fewer could enter without him becoming aware of them. Yet this one had.

Logan might be without his glasses, but he could still recognise the brightly clad clod beside him. 

Morality.

There was no mistaking the outfit. It might be little more than a series of blurred colours bleeding into one another to create a vague outline of a man but he knew that pattern. Even if he didn’t, it very clearly wasn’t Prince and he highly doubted Virgil would be allowed to visit him. Logan was surprised to feel a twinge of pain and were the drugs wearing off? It came from lower down though, in his chest and he hadn’t realised he had injured himself there. That had to be the result of adrenaline. 

Hypnos had no reason to sit by his bed. Neither did Morality but then it was well known that Virgil was close to the emotional hero. This had to be connected to Virgil, possibly some revenge or interrogation planned once they knew he was awake. Not that Logan could picture Morality carrying out revenge - but then again, emotions did the strangest things to people. Thank heavens he was immune to such feelings.

So that was why there were no guards. There was a hero watching him and so having anyone else there would be superfluous to requirements. 

Logan supposed he should feel flattered. A hero guarding him. That was bound to look good on his CV, that would make people sit up and take notice. It would be even more impressive if he could escape from Morality but physical exertion was not really his area of expertise. Logan must have made some sound when he moved, because the hero was moving in turn.

“You’re awake!” Morality sounded far more enthused about that than Logan would have expected. There was no malice either, which made him want to question his previous conclusions and what was it about this group that made him keep doing that? 

The hero reached out, offering - was that his glasses? 

Sure enough, they were his. Slipping them back on was a relief, even if it was a kindness that Logan didn’t understand. And most certainly didn’t trust. Why would Morality give him back the means to see and thus remove one of the advantages he had over him? Why was any of this happening?

While Logan had always been one for questions, he was used to getting at least a few answers back as he went. 

“How are you feeling champ?” Morality asked and that was another thing that he couldn’t trust. Nobody was really this nice without expecting anything in return. At least, not to people like him. If you had an attachment to a person then that might be another matter. Morality was no doubt playing the ‘good cop’ but then where was the bad? Was Prince lurking in the shadows somewhere, just waiting for his entrance cue?

“I am... satisfactory. Where am I?” Logan asked, looking around. As he should have done from the beginning and drugs were no excuse for sloppy behaviour. He was Dr. Logic. He should know better. They were heroes which meant they were dangerous. They were the enemy and although he might have some leverage over them in regards to his past treatment of Virgil, he knew he couldn’t count on that to keep him totally safe. Logan had to start planning ways to get out of this mess as quickly and as effectively as he could. 

It was a very comfortable bed. He was propped up on what felt like three or four pillows. The room didn’t have that much in the way of furniture, just the bed he was lying on, the seat Morality was using and a small side table on the other side that held a jug of water and a tupperware container. Whatever was inside of it, was dark. Otherwise he was at a loss.

If this was some kind of hospital then it wasn’t any sort that he knew. The door was slightly ajar and through it, he could see a corridor, stretching out... who knew where. Devoid of any other people, any medical equipment. Even any sound beyond the hero beside him. In fact, if it wasn’t for the annoying presence of Morality, he might have believed that they had dumped him in some abandoned or isolated hospital. 

“Our base! I patched you up, you’ve been sleeping for over twenty four hours.” Morality shared that information with the same cheery tone as before, as if hearing he was being held in a hero’s base wasn’t the worst possible news. Escaping from a police station was child’s play. A prison would not be a problem. A hero’s headquarters on the other hand... well, that would be a challenge.

Normally Logan loved a challenge. Not to mention it would be another thing to impress in a job interview and he was going to have to start thinking about that sort of thing soon. Even if Ms. Dragon Witch was still in business - and he hoped she wasn’t - Logan had no intention of returning to her employ. He had told Virgil he was giving his notice in and he had meant it. 

That didn’t mean he was relishing having to start all over again. And speaking of Virgil... where was he? If this was indeed a hospital then Virgil should be here too, being treated. Morality should be watching over his bed. Unless... unless they had already separated them and Virgil was in some other hospital with Prince. 

Unless they had been too slow and Virgil’s wounds had been too much for his body to cope with.

“Is Virgil okay?” Logan couldn’t help but ask. A weakness, his mind reminded him harshly, Virgil was nothing but a weakness. He shouldn’t show his soft underbelly to heroes. They might not kill him but there were still plenty of things they could do. Forcing captured minions to turn on their employers was a sound tactic because it only hurt the villains. Both the one being betrayed and the one who betrayed, when the rest of the world finally caught up with them. 

But... these weren’t just any heroes. They were Virgil’s heroes. Surely, they wouldn’t use his... attachment towards him as a means of finding out information. And Logan had to know. He had to hope that Virgil had survived.

“I thought you would ask that,” Morality replied, grin as bright as ever. Infuriating. Annoying. _Evading_. 

“You didn’t answer the question. Is he alright?” Surely, _surely_ , he had to be? Morality couldn’t be that good of an actor? There was no way he would be able to grin at Logan if something terrible had happened, surely? Logan needed to hear it though. He needed solid evidence, the... reassurance that logical proof could provide. Otherwise all that was left was conjecture and speculation. 

Both of which could be twisted to suit any ends and supply any answer that they saw fit.

“Do you know why I insisted we bring you with us?” Morality asked, dodging around the answer once more. Logan looked away, his jaw working furiously as he strove to swallow down the illogical curses and rants that he wanted to toss in Morality’s direction. Getting angry would surely only lessen any chance Logan had of getting the information he wanted. 

This all felt terribly familiar. Akin to the sort of games that Ms. Dragon Witch used to delight in playing and wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to Morality? To be able to compare him with a villain would surely hurt him. Logan found that he didn’t really want to do that however. He didn’t desire to cause any friend of Virgil’s pain. That didn’t really help him in the here and now. 

“I have no idea what goes on in that head of yours,” he replied at last. Nothing but the truth there. Nothing that could be twisted or used against him. If Morality wasn’t going to give him clear answers, then why should Logan? Why should he offer suggestions or dance to his tune? 

“I’m not stupid you know,” Morality told him, voice suddenly shifting into a serious tone. It was enough to make Logan look back at him in surprise and in all the recorded footage he had watched of Morality, he had never heard him use a tone like that. He had never seen him wearing an expression such as the one that was on his face right now, without a hint of that silly smile he wore. Logan didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t one for lies or pointless platitudes.

Up to this point there had been precious little evidence that Morality had an intellect. At least, not one that Logan could respect. It wasn’t necessarily a slight against the hero - there were so few that Logan deemed worthy of that level of respect. So few that showed the sort of clear intelligence that proved they were not stupid. 

All he could do was wait and see where Morality was planning to take this conversation. At least he didn’t have to wait long, the hero twisting his fingers together for a few moments before he spoke once more.

“I saw the set up. I saw twin chairs, one that had been clearly used to hurt Virgil. I saw the ring of fire and how you had to have been within it based on your injuries. How you had thrown yourself through it in order to get out which was hardly logical.” 

“Falsehood!” Logan snapped and he might have to lie here but he didn’t have to listen to such slander. He would not have his logic - his perfect logic - insulted. “Within the time frame provided and the likely outcome should I still be within the circle at the end of it, my actions were perfectly thought out and reasonable.” 

Morality simply gave him a look. The same look as before, one that somehow made Logan feel like a little child all over again. How absurd and yet it was the reaction within him. Chastened, he allowed Morality to keep speaking. 

“Most of all however Dr. Logic,” Morality continued, stressing each word as though they were the most important he could say. “I saw you both. I saw both of you injured but I saw how all the medical supplies had been used by you, to try and tend to Virgil’s wounds. Your back and neck were burnt, and yet you used all the burn ointment on the ones that Virgil had.”

That... that was his reasoning? Pity? He had seen that Logan needed medical aid because he had neglected to do it himself? There was logic behind Logan’s choices, just as there always was. He certainly didn’t see why that meant Morality had insisted he come here instead of to any hospital to be treated. There was a flaw in someone’s reasoning and it certainly wasn’t his own.

“His wounds were greater than mine. It was the only logical thing to do. He would have died.” Logan wanted Morality to understand. Perhaps a small part of him wanted Morality to be grateful. To behave as he should and realise that he ‘owed’ Logan. Not to heal him - they were meant to heal him anyway - but to let him go. 

“So what?” Morality asked with a shrug. 

“So... what? You’re his friend, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be happy I saved him?” Ok, so there was more than a small part that wanted him to be grateful. Virgil had shown such loyalty, such devotion to the people he called his own. Logan needed them to be worthy of that, to realise how much Virgil had done for them. He needed them to be sorry that their friend had suffered because of their choices. 

“Don’t you... care?” Logan added and none of this made sense. He could not abide a mess like this. Morality sat up straighter in the chair, fingers catching at the end of the top he was wearing, curing around the cuffs.

“Of course I do! And of course I’m glad you helped him. Don’t get me wrong, I am... I don’t have words for how I feel, how happy and sad I am about Virgil’s condition. About everything that happened once he was taken from us. But that doesn’t explain why _you_ , Dr. Logic, a villain, would choose to prioritise the life of a hero’s family member over your own. Unless... unless he meant something to you. Unless you and he became friends.”

“He is **not** my weakness.” The lie slipped out before Logan was really aware of it and he had thought he had come to terms with it. Logan had thought he was prepared to admit it. And that it would be safe to do so with Virgil’s heroes. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to actually do it, not after this bizarre conversation where nothing made sense.

“I never said weakness! I said friend!” 

“It’s the same thing.”

“Oh... oh Logic... you... you honestly believe that don’t you...” Morality stared at him, eyes huge behind those glasses - and really, who heard of a hero wearing glasses? His eyes seemed to be filling with water, shimmering in the soft light. 

This time, there was no mistaking the emotion the hero was giving off. Pity. It set his teeth on edge, something ugly and dark brewing in the pit of his stomach. Was this why so many villains used it as an excuse? This awful sensation which couldn’t be an emotion because that would be foolish. It was much more real than that, more solid. A heavy weight that wanted to drag him down and Logan desired to lash out as a result. To make Morality take back what he was offering, to make him realise that Dr. Logic was never to be pitied. 

“That’s alright! We can show you that it’s not a weakness.”

Was that... a threat? It sounded like a threat, something almost dangerous about the words. Or the tone, as strange as that conclusion might be. It had been said happily and yet there was an unexpected steel at its core. As though there would be no choice but for Logan to accept it. As though Morality wasn’t going to stop until he believed that Logan believed. 

“Let’s start small. My name is Patton!” Morality chirped cheerfully, an equally bright grin on his face, as if he was telling him something exciting. Something good. Something... _small_? Small!? 

Logan lost it. 

“Are you... are you clinically _insane_? Did you just tell me your secret identity? I’m Dr. Logic! I work in direct opposition to you! I am your enemy, someone who could easily use that information to cause you great harm!” 

He had tried so hard to keep himself under control. To see meaning and purpose in everything that the hero said. To give him the benefit of the doubt, for Virgil’s sake. And his attempt was repaid in such a foolish manner. Logan couldn’t even begin to grasp the stupidity of what had just happened. Morality - Patton - had just offered up possibly the most precious thing he possessed without any prompting. Without any coercion. He had thrown away his protection on what felt like a whim. To someone that was bound to report it. The name could be added to the files, where villains like Ms. Dragon Witch would be able to make ill use of it.

Patton still had that same smile on his face. The one that made Logan feel uncomfortable and reassured in the same instant. It made him wonder what there could be that he thought he knew that Logan didn’t. 

“Virgil trusts you and he doesn’t do that kind of thing easily. Which means I can trust you. You won’t betray me because that would mean hurting Virgil. I don’t think you’ll do that and I’m willing to bet my name on it.” 

Logan’s mouth snapped shut with an audible bite as he let those words sink in. Patton really had that level of trust in Virgil’s opinion? He was going to just accept that Logan was a good person because he - _believed_ \- that Virgil trusted him? That sounded insane. Patton flashed him yet another grin, Logan feeling slightly sick at the enormous weighted trust that had been so casually thrown about his shoulders. 

“You just have to convince Hypnos... and Prince that he was right to do so. And then you can stay! I know Virgil will love that, and he will want to see you.” 

Stay?

And do what?

What role could a villian possibly have within a hero’s base? What did he want? What really was Patton’s endgame here? And would he really let Logan see Virgil? Or was that some trick that would just be used against him in the long run? If he was still with Ms. Dragon Witch, things would be terrible but at least he would understand the rules of the engagement. Nobody could be this happy, this cheerful all the time. Nobody could surely trust as quickly or as openly as Patton did. There had to be something more to all of this, and all Logan had to do was uncover it. 

Right?


	7. The Dreamer’s Tall Tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter seven already. Who would have thought. And now it’s time for Logan to get a visit for someone else... who I’m sure isn’t a surprise from the title but shush. Let’s pretend it is a surprise okay? 
> 
> Thank you everyone who has left a comment, kudos or even a hit. I cannot stress how much it helps to get those emails from Ao3 and know that people are enjoying this. 
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### The Dreamer’s Tall Tale

** **

Time passed in a peculiar manner while recovering from an injury. Moments that should linger sped past in a blink, days bleeding into each other. Logan knew he was hurting, knew when he wasn’t. His body still had so much healing to do, so much to recover from and it turned out that her flames had done a lot more damage to his body than anyone had originally thought. He was aware of being awake, and thus that he must have been asleep at other points. Patton came to visit him once or twice. There was an exact number floating around in his brain somewhere, but Logan was currently putting all of his brain power into working out exactly what was going on here.

The first conclusion had to be the correct one. It was the simplest, sanest. It made the most sense and thus surely was the truth. This all had to be a trick. A trap of some sort. Patton might seem like a nice trusting hero but Logan didn’t know anything about him, not really. He could be devious. For all Logan knew, Patton wasn’t even his real name.

Yes, that had to be it.

Patton wasn’t his actual name. It was all a ploy, to make Logan think he was an idiot. To make him lower his guard. To perhaps exchange information such as his real name in turn - although Patton had never actually asked for it. Social norms demanded that Logan offer a gift of equal value to Patton. What a good thing he cared so little for such things. He was aware of the vague obligation but there was no real pressure. No matter how many sad little faces and sighs Patton did. He wasn’t giving up anything. 

It also didn’t escape his notice that despite Patton saying he could see Virgil, there was no actual offer or attempt to carry through on that. Logan didn’t bother asking. To do so would shatter the illusion completely because then Patton would be forced to admit that they had no intention of letting him see him. That or Virgil would show up, would lie like Patton. Lie to his face and Logan wasn’t quite ready for that.

Instead of shattering, Logan worked on gently nudging the barriers. He wanted to know how far he could push Patton before the mask started to slip. Just a fraction. 

Logan refused to play the game. He didn’t smile, he didn’t engage with Patton. There were no conversations, no friendly interactions. Logan didn’t want to learn any of the lies that the heroes were so keen on showing him. 

Inside his mind, he crafted new projects. New designs to improve his machines. New ideas that spun things into whole new worlds. A shame there was no paper for him to record and save these ideas, but it just meant he had so much to do once he was finally able to escape. 

Just as soon as Patton - or whatever his real name was - got bored with this pretence. 

\---

Waking to find Patton sitting beside his bed had sadly become a regular occurrence. Logan didn’t want to think about how long the hero must have sat there while he was asleep, how many hours he spent just staring at him. It sent a shiver down his spine at the mere surface thought. 

Waking to find someone else sitting beside his bed was however, new.

Sat was the wrong term. _Lounge_ was more accurate. The hero was stretched out across the chair, legs kicked up over one armrest. His head was tilted back over the other. In one hand was a large Starbucks cup, long, pale fingers loosely curled around it, but it was the face that Logan was focused on. Or, more accurately, the sleek black goggles which covered his eyes, making it impossible to know where he was looking, much less if he was even awake. 

Hypnos.

Logan’s first thought was almost triumphant. His hypothesis was bearing fruit. Patton was no longer getting the reaction that he wanted from Logan and so he had decided to send in someone else. His second thought had been slight concern, simply because so little was known about Hypnos. There wasn’t enough in the files he had read to be able to have any real grasp of where this might go. Not that reading Morality’s file had helped in the slightest, but it had been the principle of the thing. 

Then the hero shifted. He twisted in a way that people should not be able to twist, as though bones were something fluid and flexible. Hypno’s whole body turned, one leg still thrown up over an armrest, the other crossed under him. There was an almost grim smile on his face as he leaned closer, hand tugging at the large goggles which obscured his eyes. All the better to meet his gaze. Eyes that Logan knew. From pictures and clippings, if nothing else. 

“You’re... you’re Sleep!” Logan spluttered out, pushing himself into some rough upright position. 

He hated stating the obvious. It was for buffoons. Yet what else could he possibly say when confronted with this alarming turn of events? Hypno, the newest hero. Hypno who had saved the city multiple times in his short career already... was actually Sleep, the infamous villain. He had done the sort of things that Ms. Dragon Witch could only dream of. 

The sort of villain that Logan would have been proud to work for. And now he was a hero? Was this all some undercover work? Get close to them, gain their trust, only to stab them in the back? If it was, then Logan had completely ruined it by saying his name like a moron. Sleep had the nerve to simply smirk, head tilted a little to the side. He was far too amused for Logan’s comfort. Still, at least that ruled out the possibility that he was playing a long con.

Which meant he was now a hero? Logan felt more lost with every passing second. 

“I heard you died,” he told him. Sleep lifted his hand, fingers curled into a very crude looking gun, mouthing a bang sound. 

“Reports of my death babes have been greatly exaggerated. No zombie or other undead could possibly look as fabulous as me.” 

“How... how did you keep this from the Twelve?” 

There was no real hierarchy in villains. A super villain would have mid tier villains then henchmen and minions true, but beyond that, it was everyone for themselves. Except for the Twelve. They worked to maintain the most fluid balance between everyone. Not to rule or pick one over another. They simply watched. Listened. Occasionally they might intervene, if the behaviour of other villians was helping the heroes too much but on the most part they simply existed. They knew everything and the threat of that was enough to inspire respect because there was always that tantalising hope of either learning more about your enemy. Or becoming a member of the Twelve yourself. 

It was the Twelve who would collect information about any new hero. Who would create the files and thick folders of data which would thud across Logan’s desk. In his mind, he saw the Twelve as scientists, researchers. Like most, Logan longed to be inducted into their ranks. Not for the power it would offer but simply so he could be among like minded souls. People who valued knowledge above everything else.

“Oh the Twelve know full well I’m alive. I’m amazed they’ve kept it under wraps, I’m not exactly being subtle here. My amazing talents are the same, my name is pretty much the same and hello? How could anyone look at this leather clad beauty and not realise it’s me?” Sleep gestured to his hero costume as he spoke, a scandalised expression on his face. 

Now that Logan thought about it, there were some disturbing similarities between the two outfits. Both included way too much leather, both had something covering the eyes instead of merely a mask. Both were similar colours, blacks and whites. Hypno’s outfit was slightly greyer than Sleep’s, but staring at him now, Logan felt like such an idiot for not putting the pieces together before. And he strongly disliked feeling like an idiot. 

“Only reason I’ve not announced myself on the news or whatever it is that Princey thinks I need to save a few more people. Balance the scales or whatevers. Can’t have panic when they find out their beloved new hero was once a villain. Or that their sweet other heroes knew about it all along. Because of course, they will react well.” Sleep lifted his drink, taking a long, loud slurp from the straw, eyes half closing in delight. 

Logan could feel a headache forming. This, somehow, was even worse than Morality and his name, or the trust he claimed to so freely give. The public would not react well to discovering their hero was actually Sleep. They would believe it some trap, a trick. Surely Sleep had to know that? Logan was aware that Prince and Morality probably thought things would be that easy. They were heroes and stupid. Sleep was better than that. Nothing but bad things awaited him as soon as the world knew the truth. Civilians were fickle in their favour and yet he was still going to keep trying?

“So how did you end up... like this?” Such a vague question, yet another thing that Logan would normally despise saying. It was such a large topic though, so all encompassing. Sleep was one of the greats, a household name. The sort of villain that others could look up to. How on earth did he become a... a hero, of all things? There weren't many previous examples he could call upon here. It was much easier to list those that had turned into a villian, rather than those that had turned away. 

What was the proper procedure for a thing like this? And could it ever actually work?

“I robbed a bank,” Sleep told him. He gave a fluid shrug, his body still moving as though bones were optional. “I know, not my usual scene but I needed the cash and quickly. I figured even if a hero worked out how much of a deadline I was on, they would expect me to find a jewellery store or something classy.”

That made sense. If Sleep had any flaws - and they all did - then it would be his love for the dramatic. Sleep was not the sort to go around robbing banks. He would pick something shiny, sparkling. Something that would grab the attention and not let go. It was a common flaw among their kind that few were immune to. Holding up a bank was not the sort of thing they did. Not unless it was a grand scheme with something specific in the vault that they were after.

“And?” Logan prompted after a beat. Sleep smiled. 

“It worked too. Nobody around but civilians and one old security guard that was oh so easy to get in my thrall. Like taking candy from a baby. I was in that vault and surrounded by beautiful green in moments. Oh the treasures in that vault....” Sleep trailed off, a soft sigh of delight slipping free as he apparently thought back to that vault. It made Logan want to lick his lips a little in anticipation at the thought of all that money. To think of all the scientific equipment he would be able to get with access to a bank vault of money... it made him want to go and rob a bank.

So far, Logan had heard precious little evidence to point towards any change of - ugh, what a saying - heart. There was nothing which would suggest Sleep changed his mind upon stealing all that money. Just a confusing statement about robbing a baby, and even Logan had some lines he wouldn’t cross. Stealing candy from a child was one of them. And yet Sleep called himself a hero now?

Vaguely, Logan was aware of the robbery he mentioned. There were a lot of villain attacks, over a lot of cities. It was impossible to keep track of them all and it wasn’t his job to try. There were plenty of run of the mill criminal attacks too, the sort that they let the police deal with. There was something about a bank being robbed that he remembered. Something to do with heroes and hostages and it having far more dramatics than it should. Logan remembered scanning the report before giving a huff of disgust and moving onto more important things. It seemed as though it was a more important crime than he had first believed. 

“Of course, someone hit the alarm just as I was coming back up the stairs. I knew it wouldn’t be long before a hero arrived, so I figured, hey, better grab me some insurance. And who better than the cutie in purple I spy near the teller’s window?”

It took Logan a painfully long few seconds to realise who Sleep had to have kidnapped. 

“Vir... you took Virgil hostage?”

“Sure did sugarplum.” Sleep looked way too pleased with himself. Logan had to swallow down the unexpected surge of protective fury that wanted to break free at the idea of someone else taking Virgil against his will. For a civilian, Virgil certainly seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble. It was a wonder that his brother let him out of the house at all. Then again, Virgil wasn’t exactly the sort to allow anyone to stop him doing anything. 

If he was the sort to smile, then Logan would have done so at the mental image of Prince trying to stop Virgil from leaving. And the carnage Virgil would have left in his wake. 

Obviously nothing bad had happened. Virgil had been with his heroes when he had been taken by Ms. Dragon Witch. And Sleep had joined his side. Clearly, these events had caused no lasting harm to anyone and just as clearly, Virgil and Sleep were friends now. 

Logic dictated that since the end result was so favourable, then nothing terrible must have happened. Thus, it was a good thing that Virgil had been taken hostage. Thus Logan should be grateful that it had happened the way it did because it ensured that Virgil was whole and healthy. It was possibly a contributing factor to why Virgil had been willing to talk to Logan at all. If his first encounter with a villain had yielded a positive result then it would inspire him to try again. 

That didn’t explain everything. Or really, anything. 

“I still don’t understand how taking Virgil hostage resulted in you becoming a hero? Surely that should have inspired Prince to hunt you down with more determination than usual, not invite you to become a member of his team?” 

Because logic _also_ dictated that the first action should have produced negative consequences. Prince had proven that he cared about his brother. That he loved him. Virgil had more than demonstrated a return of affection for him. Virgil would never betray Prince, and Prince would never stop looking until he had saved him. He had been furious in Ms. Dragon Witch’s base. Full of self righteous anger and so close to falling to the villian side. 

Part of Prince had been fully prepared to leave Logan burnt and broken if he got in the way of his rescue mission, that much Logan was sure. So why had this first kidnapping turned out so differently? 

Sleep laughed, an ugly, high pitched snort of a laugh. 

“Oh he tried, believe me he tried. Little minx was right on my tail and I had no clue what I had done. Couldn’t imagine what had crawled up his butt. Tried everything to get him to stop chasing me, but I wasn’t about to give up my little yummy treat. I thought, worst comes to worst I’ve got a lovely civilian to trade for my freedom. Cute as a button, smart, he was a keeper I thought.” 

Straw was lifted to his lips once more, Sleep taking another long drink of whatever was in his cup. For a few moments the only sound was the noise of slurping, Logan using the precious time to try and gather his thoughts together. 

“Didn’t Virgil tell you how foolish you were being? Surely once you were aware you had a hero’s family member and that the said hero was on your trail, the logical thing would be to release him? It wasn’t as though there was any secret as to who you were at this point, correct?” 

Ms. Dragon Witch had made it a point to try and throw Prince off her trail. She hadn’t wanted them to know she had Virgil, not at first. Not until she had gotten what she wanted from him and it made Logan a little sick to realise that she had meant until she had tortured him. Until she had broken him? Had that been her plan? What else could it have been? 

She had always healed him up before returning him but that just meant she was free to start again. Sleep closed one eye, squinting at Logan as though seeing him for the first time. Logan wasn’t really sure what he was looking for. Or if he wanted Sleep to find it. Whatever it was, it was enough to make the villain turned hero to keep talking. 

“Oh please gurl. Virgil wasn’t going to tell me anything! I had to look through his wallet just to get his name. He keeps his secrets close to his heart, he guards them well. My emo wasn’t going to risk his brother like that, for all he knew I could use him to hurt Prince. So he just let it all happen.”

For the first time in the whole conversation, a hint of softness touched Sleep’s expression. His smile had lost a tiny bit of that sharp edge, drifting into something fonder. As though just thinking about Virgil was enough to shake the persona he was crafting around himself. It seemed as if they really were friends. Whatever might be really going on here, at least Logan could be sure of that relationship.

Not that it helped him. Or explained why Sleep was telling him any of this in the first place. What did he hope to gain from sharing this ridiculous story? Sleep cleared his throat, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable and maybe he wanted this whole thing to be over just as much as Logan did.

“Anyhow, I managed to lose the Prince for a while, because I am amazing. Found myself chatting to Virgil, I don’t like scaring people. Long story short, I got attached to my emo. Wanted to keep him. He could have been a great villain you know?” 

That, Logan did know. It was a fantasy he had ever so briefly toyed with, before reluctantly accepting that it would be just that. As much as he would have preferred to have Virgil willingly by his side, he knew that Virgil would have never agreed to it. And he would never have actually wanted him to, because then Virgil would have lost some of that spark. That glow which made him shine whenever he talked about the things he was truly passionate about would be lost if he turned to Logan’s side. Because all of the things that really mattered to Virgil were interwoven with his friend’s concept of being ‘good’.

That didn’t mean that they were good. Only that if Virgil were to change, he would reject all of those things because of the connotations he had with them and would be less as a result. 

“Still, I knew it wasn’t to be. I didn’t want to hurt him, and I didn’t want to just... let him go. I don’t often meet people who can talk to me. Even as my prisoner, Virgil didn’t put up with any of my shit. It was refreshing. Also, tots annoying because I did have a reputation to maintain and here was this emo just ruining it effortlessly. Didn’t matter how cool he was - or how much he didn’t realise he was cool which just added coolness points, the pest - he was getting under my skin like nobody else. The minions knew it too.”

“So what did you do?” 

“I realised I could let him go and never see him again, which ouch, no. Or I could at least try it his way. He kept suggesting it and although I laughed it off at first, I found myself considering it more and more. I was amazing as a villain, why couldn’t I be equally awesome as a hero? Plus, I had made a friend who wasn’t going to stab me in the back. Like. Hello! When is the last time you could say that?” With a dramatic twirl of his fingers, Sleep pointed at Logan, expectantly. 

He was clearly waiting for Logan to say something, to no doubt answer his question. Logan didn’t really know what to say. It was true though, wasn’t it. Logan had never thought about it in any detail, but now that he did there was no escaping it. Virgil would have never betrayed him. Virgil was his friend and that meant something. Sleep gave him a knowing grin, snapping the goggles back in place so that they disguised his eyes once more. 

“Virge has this habit of adopting villains. He is gonna have to cut it out though, you I can just about accept, but that is it. Otherwise I’m gonna start feeling neglected. Two reformed villains is enough for one emo.”

“Virgil has not adopted me,” Logan protested weakly. Sleep gave that same snorting laugh as before, lips curling into a wider smile that was a little too sharp and full of teeth for comfort. 

“You sure about that sugarplum?” 

That was remarkably similar to what he had said when Prince had told Morality that the line was beyond kidnapping Virgil. It made a lot more sense now that he knew their past history. It still didn’t prove that it was the same thing of course. Logan had not been the driving force behind Virgil’s kidnapping and he did not consider himself ‘adopted’ in any way. 

Gracefully, Sleep untangled himself from the chair. He shook himself out, a series of soft little popping sounds coming from his joints as his body appeared to remember that limbs were not meant to bend that way.

“Turns out, being a hero isn’t so bad. They’re all nerds of course, so you’ll fit right in. But it's not too different from the other side. They bicker amongst themselves of course and Princey thinks way too highly of himself. But on the plus side, there’s less backstabbing and fear of being tortured. Worst thing that will happen here is that Patton will give you sad eyes. Or Virgil will huff and not talk to you. Wounds my heart whenever my little emo does that to me.”

The Starbucks cup was lifted to eye - or rather goggle - level, Sleep examining it carefully. With a disappointed grunt, he tossed it into the small garbage bin before heading towards the exit, tossing words back towards Logan as he went. 

“I’m a living, breathing example of what you could aspire to be. You’ll never be cool as me of course but hey, nobody could. And you can still do your work, just for better ends. As well as spending time with Virgil.” 

He paused in the doorway, turning his head back to presumably look at Logan. It was impossible to tell with those black goggles obscuring his eyes. 

“Think about it Logie bear. It’s here or jail. Virgil and helpful science or cold empty rooms again. Later nerd.” With that farewell, Sleep vanished from sight, leaving Logan’s head spinning as he tried to take in everything that had just happened.

Had they just attempted to recruit him to become a _hero_?


	8. The Royal Gambit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn’t chronic pain a fun thing? Still, I’m back and we’re onto the final three chapters already. Time to find out exactly why Virgil hasn’t been in the story lately. And maybe discover Logan’s breaking point. All manner of fun things this chapter!
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### The Royal Gambit

** **

Logan was unsure what had woken him.

For once, he had been sleeping fairly peacefully, the wounds along his neck and back healing at an agreeable rate. Still far too slow, but at least they were healing without any interruption. It was almost strange to realise that he had been allowed to rest in the bed without once being toyed with like that. There had been no attempt to get him back to work or the real world before he was ready. No untested ‘remedies’ to cure him faster. No attempt to manipulate him by mocking him for being weak enough to need days upon days of rest.

They hadn’t even told him how much money he would owe for his visit. Ms. Dragon Witch was at least upfront about that, letting Logan know how much would come out of his paycheck whenever he was forced to use her facilities. It was only right that he invested in keeping the medical facility operating since he had been the one to get use of it. Yet the heroes didn’t appear to want him to pay for anything. They hadn’t even seriously mentioned sending him to prison once he had recovered. Sleep had sketched wildly improbable ideas about how his future could pan out. Ideas that Logan still didn’t know what to make of.

Patton probably would agree. He seemed the sort to delight in doing that sort of thing, in getting villains to ‘redeem’ themselves. The very name he had chosen for his hero persona proved that. Morality. As though such a thing could be so easily defined. Logan almost wished he could have that clarity, that clear purpose. It had to make things so much easier.

Did he want to be a hero?

Ignoring the question as to if he was even capable of becoming one, there was still the pressing matter as to if he actually wanted it. Logan had never seen the need to really question his career choices before meeting Virgil. He had been perfectly satisfied with the job. Then again, Logan had always been a step removed from the reality of what the job actually entailed. That had been the way he preferred it. 

Science worked best in lab conditions and that meant, to a degree, rejecting the world as it actually was.

Up until he had met Virgil. The torture session had been the first one he had seen so close. In such detail. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw something from that session. Even a blink was enough to imprint a flash of blood or the sound of muffled pain.

He still didn’t know why he was awake. Dreams had come with memory, but they had haunted Logan every night since the event. He had managed to sleep then and should have now. The room was quiet and cool. The soft light from the hallway spilled in through the half open door of his room. It was just enough light for Logan to be able to make out shapes scattered through it, the by now familiar forms of the furniture. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, Logan found himself sitting up and slipping his glasses back onto his face. 

Being able to see the dim shapes in more clarity didn’t help explain why he was awake. Or why there was adrenaline still pumping through his bloodstream, some subconscious clues warning him of possible danger. 

A creak sounded. A weight pressing down on part of the floor, something that could easily be nothing. Then again, it could be something. Was this what anxiety felt like? Virgil often spoke of being oppressed by a weight, something vague and ill defined. Something he could rarely actually put his finger on. 

The stillness was just that. Still. Too still, too quiet, unnaturally tense and the more Logan became aware of it, the worse it became. 

Despite everything, Logan could feel his heartbeat start to pick up a fraction more. The adrenaline was joined by a fresh jolt, his body screaming for some reason. Had they sent an assassin? It made no sense to target Logan over Sleep, but if the Twelve really knew that one of the best villains of the time had turned soft then perhaps they wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. Stop Logan before he could turn. 

Or maybe the assassin was after both of them and had either already taken out Sleep or had just found Logan first. 

He should have known that the hero base would be ill suited to protect him. It was filled with heroes after all. They were terrible at guarding things even when they mattered - take Virgil and his frequent kidnappings. How much worse would they be when it came to someone they didn't really care about, such as Logan?

The creak sounded again, a shadow blotting out part of the already dim light spilling out into the room. A shadow in the shape of a person.

This was it. Logan had no weapons to defend himself. They had taken all his devices and left him utterly helpless. If he screamed would someone come? It would look bad if he died under their watch afterall. Villian or no, heroes were meant to be better than that.

Scornful eyes glinted in the dark.

The Prince. 

Scream died in Logan's throat before it could properly form. The anxiety and nerves however, did not. 

Prince wasn't an assassin and that was, of course, a good thing. He was also an overprotective, if somewhat useless brother. Which meant he was still very much a threat to Logan's safety. A switch was flicked, flooding the room with a bright, artificial light that made Logan wince a little despite himself.

“What did you do to my brother?” Prince demanded. He wasn't wearing his usual superhero outfit. Pristine white and red leather had been replaced by faded shades of the same colours, soft looking sweater pants and shirt. It was very obviously his sleeping clothes, as evidenced by the ruffled, bed hair.

It should have made him less threatening but the end result was actually the opposite. He wasn't wearing the role of hero, of Prince. Just of brother.

“Virgil keeps asking about you, wants to know if you’re okay. He wants to see you, to talk to you like you’re friends and I’m looking but I honestly can’t work out why he cares." Prince all but spat out the words at Logan as if they were ugly, dangerous things.

For the first time, Logan found himself honestly wishing Morality was here. The hero would be able to keep Prince from losing his temper. More than that however, Morality - no, Patton, and Logan couldn't help but believe in the name now - Morality would defend him. Patton would convince Prince that Logan deserved a chance.

And, for the first time, Logan found himself wanting that chance. Wanting to prove Prince wrong and Virgil right.

"During the course of his... captivity, I was honoured to get to know him. We talked. I helped him as best I could," Logan replied. He tried to ignore the half lie in his words - as best he could? As little as he could it really felt like. 

The look Prince was giving him only added to that. It was filled with disgust and barely contained anger. The hero stalked forward, closer and closer until he was looming over Logan. Unable to help himself, Logan shrunk a little into the pillows, sinking down. This wasn't like the previous heroes. Those who had spun their fibreglass webs of lies which would shatter if Logan actually trusted his weight to it. Prince was being nothing if not honest.

The rage, the burning hurt, it was honest. Logan respected that. He had to respect it. Not the hero himself of course, but the emotions while a cage also gave Prince his strength. 

“I was there, Dr. Logic. I saw what had been done to him. And I saw the list of healing injuries that were logged when we got him back to the medical bay. You did a good job fixing him back up after someone had played with him, I'll give you that." Prince paused and drew in a sharp breath, his jaw clenching tightly together for a few moments. Logan found himself unable to look away, gazing up at the way part of the other man's jaw was twitching as he swallowed heavily. Eventually, Prince got himself under control enough to speak once more, each word as harsh and as biting as the one before.

"He was tortured. And you were involved. You helped alright. But not Virgil. So what is this, Stockholm? Did you mess my baby brother up that badly?"

“I didn’t know,” Logan protested, and even he was aware of how weak and feeble that sounded. Prince gave a laugh, something cold and sharp.

“You didn’t know? The great Dr. Logic didn’t know something? I find that very hard to believe. As if you would be satisfied not knowing something."

Prince was right. As much as it galled Logan to think so. He had to admit that for maybe the first time, a hero actually had a point. A hero was right and it was _Prince_? Logan was going to have to reexamine all of his life choices, since they apparently lead to this moment. Later though. Once this conversation was done. Once he let Prince have this little victory.

It was time to be honest. Prince was Virgil's brother and he deserved that much. 

“I didn’t... I didn’t _want_ to know,” Logan amended, eyes dropping to stare at the patchwork blanket that was thrown over his bed. Patton had brought him it a few days ago, chirping some nonsense about making the room more homey for him. Logan had ignored him at the time but the blanket itself had been kept. Why reject a perfectly useful item simply because there was the possibility that Patton might get the wrong idea? Logan hadn’t had any intention at the time of letting it be anything more than warmth. 

Now though?

Now these damned heroes had gotten him so mixed up and confused that part of him almost wanted that. The same part of him that made him be honest and examine things that he really didn’t want to examine. Something burned in his veins. Something that Logan couldn’t deny was an emotion. 

Shame.

It flushed through him as surely as the adrenaline had done only a few minutes earlier. How could he have done that to Virgil? It was just about excusable at the beginning, when he hadn’t really known the other man. When Virgil had just been another name, another tick in a column. An acceptable evil because the outcome had promised to provide such useful rewards.

No, it had never been excusable. His mistake - yet another - was thinking that it ever could be. 

“I tried to close my eyes to it all. Virgil never complained, never showed me any evidence which would shatter my belief that he was not being mistreated. And I never pushed. I should have pushed. I should have done something. Instead I just.. I let it happen.” 

“You did. You’re as guilty as she is.” There was a grim satisfaction to Prince’s tone, that of a judge delivering his verdict. All that was left was the sentencing. Logan couldn’t deny that. Just as he couldn’t deny that as Virgil’s brother, Prince had the right to deliver sentencing on him. 

Instead of lashing out as he had been expecting, Prince merely stood there, staring at him awkwardly. All Logan could do was stare back, the moment stretching on and on. Tension grew with each passing breath, a cord stretching out between them that only grew thinner and thinner. 

“What happened before we arrived? In that room?” Prince demanded, words snapping the invisible string between them. Logan blinked a couple of times, thrown by the sudden shift in conversation. That... wasn’t what he had expected. That wasn’t what Prince was supposed to have said. 

“Didn’t Virgil tell you?” Logan asked curiously. 

“He refused. Tried to play it off as just another of that bitch’s sessions. I’m not an idiot Dr. Logic. I know it was something special and I- I... I need to know what happened to him.” 

“It was my fault,” Logan whispered, fingers gripping and twisting at the blanket. He didn’t know if he should actually say any of this. It had been his fault. And Prince deserved to know. But... Virgil had refused to share the information. It was his story to tell. His agony, his private pain. Logan had no right to broadcast that... but how did that weigh against Prince’s right to understand what his brother had been through? To realise that Patton and Sleep - or whatever he called himself these days - were wrong to think Logan could ever be redeemed?

Selfishly, how could he weigh it against his own desire to tell the story? To be absolved by punishment? 

All fancy ideas. Ones that Logan would have normally had little time for. Maybe it was being in the presence of so many heroes that had his thoughts turning inward in such a manner. Maybe it was just something long overdue. Either way, the desire to tell won out over the worry that Virgil had kept it secret. After everything Logan had helped to do to Virgil, he hoped this wouldn’t be the thing which would break them both. 

“She was angry at me and... and she sought to take it out on Virgil. I had failed her, she thought perhaps I had done it on purpose or perhaps I had been negligent, and had allowed Virgil to sabotage my work. He wasn’t to blame, it was... a mistake on my part. Just an honest mistake." The words felt ugly in his mouth. It was bad enough to think about it. It was worse to have to admit it to his boss - she at least was a villain. To say such a thing to a hero though... that hurt. 

Good. 

Logan deserved that. Logan accepted it. He hurried on, not wanting to give Prince a chance to say anything. 

“He was smart though. Smarter than I realised and I’m glad of that. I didn’t know what he had done, how he had managed to get into my systems but he did and he was able to sneak a message out to you. So you were able to play the hero and come to save him.” 

"Then what? What happened when she refused to believe you?” Prince demanded and of course it wouldn’t be as simple as Logan had hoped. Of course he would return to the original topic instead of letting Logan sweep them along to the end of the story. Of course Prince would press for more answers, more detail. It wasn’t enough to just know something bad had happened and leave it at that. Curse him and his curiosity. 

Then again, Logan would have been no different if the roles were reversed. He would have pressed for detail despite himself. It was why he had tried to avoid letting Prince speak at all. 

In a way, this was worse than the actual torture. It was one thing to be forced to watch Virgil endure it all. It was quite another to have to relive it in his mind, to explain what he had seen and heard. To let the images actually linger in his mind. They looped of course, almost endlessly. A blink here and there, a flash of a pained expression, the scent of freshly spilt blood in the air. Logan had refused to dwell on them however. He let them pass from his mind with the same ease in which they had arrived. Only now he was holding them close, letting their pain infect him completely. 

“She... she whipped him. And then because I had looked away for a number of the blows, she whipped him again. All for my... benefit, she said. So that I would learn to be better. So that I wouldn’t... be weak.”

"And you just let it happen?" Prince asked in disbelief.

“I was trapped within the ring of fire!” Logan protested, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. With the now familiar guilt and shame came anger. That was something else Logan had more than a passing knowledge of. As quickly as it had appeared though, the fury faded, fire dying out in one single breath. Because yet again, Prince was right and he was wrong. Right now, it seemed as though he did little but get things wrong. 

“No. No, you are right. I let it happen. I could have pushed myself through the flames earlier than I did. I could have admitted the truth, although I doubt Ms. Dragon Witch would have actually kept her word and stopped hurting Virgil. Still, I should have done that. I should have been honest because the shock might have stopped her for a while. It might have saved him a little pain and maybe even bought enough time for you to arrive before anything else happened to him...” 

It was pointless to indulge in what ifs. They didn’t change anything. They were little more than a waste of time that could drive someone mad if they were allowed free reign. And they certainly didn’t excuse the actual choices made.

“And what, Dr. Logic, exactly is the truth?”

“That... that Virgil is my weakness. My friend. That I would debase myself in order to protect him. I had attempted to make her see the futility of her actions. I begged her to stop. I... I begged. Tried to make her understand... and then she made me understand. She made me see that Virgil had gotten under my skin. That I had started to care. She made me see that even though I hated having a weakness... I still didn’t hate him. I didn’t regret knowing him. Only that him knowing me caused him pain.”

Strangely, Logan felt almost better after he spoke. Not better in any meaningful way that he could define or understand. It didn’t calm the storm in him, didn’t ease the guilt. The pressure in his chest lifted slightly though. As though he could breathe clearly for the first time in days. The words were finally out there instead of building up to a screeching crescendo of pure noise in his mind. Truth had been said and the facts were out there. Logan couldn’t take them back.

More than that though, Logan didn’t _want_ to take them back. 

“Are you sorry?” Prince asked after a couple of seconds of painful silence. Logan wanted to laugh - or was that cry? - at such a question. Something so simple, something that he could understand. Something that he could finally say _right_. 

“Of course. I am very sorry. But there is nothing I can say that could possibly excuse or make up for what I allowed to happen to him. Whatever you plan to do to me, I accept it. Don’t worry, I won’t let Virgil know what really happened. I’ll go along with your story, what shall it be? I tried to escape? To betray you?” 

Logan fixed his gaze slightly to the left of Prince’s shoulder as he spoke, gazing into the middle distance. This was better, this was something he understood. Something he could solve. What would happen next was a puzzle, and one thing Logan prided himself on, was his ability to solve puzzles. There had to be a way through this. A way that Prince could get what he wanted or needed from Logan without Virgil suffering as a result. 

“He’s my friend and I want to save him from any further pain as best I can,” Logan prompted after a whole minute had passed without anything from Prince. He was a hero so it made sense that he would need a little prompting to do what needed to be done. Even if it wasn’t as simple, as white as Prince would no doubt prefer. The world wasn’t simple, wasn’t as clear cut as they believed. 

Another silence. As painful as every one that had come before it. Eventually, Logan caved, eyes shifting back to meet Prince’s gaze. 

The hero was staring at him. Those brown eyes were achingly familiar. They were just like Virgil’s eyes, and it wasn’t until Prince looked at him like that, that Logan realised how reliant he had become to them. Seeing Virgil’s eyes light up with delight or curiosity had become something he subconsciously looked forward to. Now those familiar eyes were blank. Worryingly so. 

“You can see him in the morning,” Prince muttered, looking away at last. 

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?” Logan asked, parroting the words in his head when it became clear that he hadn’t imagined Prince’s response. The hero rolled his eyes, that aura of menace and danger dropping away from him. He looked more like a petulant child than anything else, lips curling into a sneer that lacked any heat. 

“Don’t make me repeat it Dr. Logic. I don’t know how Virgil did it, but he seemed to have turned you. I certainly don’t trust you yet. You've yet to earn anything close to that. The _second_ you try to betray us, I will show no mercy.” Prince paused, exhaling heavily. He suddenly looked exhausted, as though his body was only just now catching up with the fact that it was the middle of the night and they should be asleep. 

“But... you were there for him. You hurt yourself to get to him and help him. That's worth a chance in my eyes. Just the one chance. Don't mess it up.”

A chance?

That... that was the same thing Hypnos had offered. The same thing Patton had offered, albeit crouched in different terms. Did Prince - did they all honestly think he wanted to be a hero? Did they believe he was capable of it? 

"I am no hero," Logan told him and it couldn’t be as simple as the three of them were making it out to be. He refused to accept it was that simple. Or that he could manage such a thing. Prince shrugged, hand lifting to run through messy hair. 

“You’re not a villain anymore either,” Prince pointed out. “Any time you attack or help another villain attack, then that makes you culpable. If that’s the case when it comes to evil, then I have to accept that the opposite is true as well. You’ve done good.”

Even though he was lying on a bed, Logan felt as if he was floating. Spinning through all of time and space. The world as he knew it was gone, lost in the implication that he was good merely for helping Virgil. Or that he could continue to be ‘good’, to aid these fools. 

“Culpable... Virgil teach you that?” Logan asked at last, pulling away from the confusing topic and onto the only safe ground he could see. Insulting Prince, that was something he was used to. It was something villain's did and that was all Logan knew. Could he continue his work with the heroes? How could he get funding? Would any of his projects even still be valid if they were refashioned for positive use? 

Prince smiled, expression almost... fond? Surely Logan had to be reading that wrong. There was no way that Prince was looking at him with anything other than disgust. 

“Actually, yes. Turns out maybe he knows a thing or two. Don’t tell him I said that though. Wouldn’t do to let him get an ego. See you tomorrow Doc.” Prince pushed himself away from the bed and walked out without a second glance, flicking the light back off as he did so. 

Logan lay back in the pillows, his head still spinning. He barely noticed the darkness, too focused on the thoughts inside his head. 

It seemed as though he wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight.


	9. Reunions of the Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And welcome back! To the second to last chapter. Can’t believe we are here already and this story is nearly done.
> 
> Time to finally catch up with Virgil! And a surprise little cameo from someone else... ho ho ho. And Logan finally has a much needed conversation to help tie up the previous few chapters. At least that is the theory and the hope. Fingers crossed I’ve managed to capture that. Comments feed my soul and keep me going, love you guys. 
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### Reunions of the Soul

** **

All in all, morning had come far too quickly for Logan's liking.

It hadn’t brought clarity or understanding. Not in a way that Logan could gain any satisfaction from. Logically, he did understand the events of the previous night and few days of course. He understood that they were attempting to lure him from the side they had deemed evil. A side that even Logan had to admit was darker than he perhaps preferred. He understood that they all cared for Virgil and that they used Virgil’s behaviour while he was with Logan as a means of judging Logan.

He just still didn’t understand why.

He didn’t understand why the Prince had decided to trust Virgil’s judgement. Why he had elected to stay his hand from delivering much deserved vengeance. He didn’t get why they wanted him around at all. Surely one villain turned good was more than enough for a group of heroes to deal with? Logan wasn’t naive, he knew that there was more movement between the two sides than either would ever admit. He knew that some shifted from light to dark or vice versa. And he knew that it came with all manner of trials and tests for those around it.

No matter how serious Hypnos might be about his ‘redemption’ there would be countless moments where he would stumble. And more where he would outright fall. Morality and Prince - not to mention Virgil - would be busy enough making sure he stayed on the side of the angels. Tossing in another was just asking for trouble. Yet what other explanation could there be? None of them had spoken of using any of Logan’s knowledge to defeat Ms. Dragon Witch or any previous super villain he had worked for. None of them had given the slightest hint that they wanted him for that and as ridiculous as it seemed, Logan found that he believed in that absence.

It was perilous to argue from silence of course.

More perilous still to trust someone that had been your enemy only days previously.

 _They_ did it. They were heroes. They wore their hearts on their sleeves. A sword in their soul, a strength that Logan could never hope to match. They were prepared to risk everything for their beliefs. Logan might think they were fools but he couldn’t help but respect that loyalty. That idiocy. In a way, it was admirable. No matter how many times they were knocked down, they got back up. They risked themselves because they believed that such things were worth it.

The question remained; was Logan prepared to do the same? 

Could he test himself in such a manner? Could he trust them? Virgil trusted them and all night Logan had found himself wrestling one question above everything else. 

In light of all that had happened, could he trust Virgil? Could he believe that his friend still held that title, that he wanted this and was prepared to be strong for the sake of Logan? What if this whole thing was nothing more than a trick? What if he had pushed Virgil too far and now he didn’t want to know Logan?

The mere thought hurt more than Logan would have first expected and whatever was going on, he wasn’t going to give up that bond without a fight. He might not have decided if he was prepared to become a fully fledged, card carrying hero, but he was willing to at least consider the idea. So long as he still got a friend out of it. Was that heroic? It didn’t feel heroic, wanting something only for the reward that could be gained.

Perhaps Virgil would have an answer for him. The other man certainly knew more about hero life than Logan.

It was the first time he had been outside of the room since he had first woken up. Logan could have used the time to try and gain a rough layout of the building he was in. Maybe even look out of some of the windows to attempt to memorise some landmarks. He wasn’t blindfolded or restrained in any way and really, they were fools to let him wander about so freely. There was an escort of course, Prince was leading the way. His shoulders were tense, every inch of him betraying how much he was regretting letting Logan out. 

Yet he continued to walk, to allow Logan to move at his own pace as they moved through this heartland of the heroes base. Logan continued to focus on his own thoughts over any escape plans. He didn't even bother to lie to himself and blame it on his bodily weakness. That, there was no denying, existed of course. He felt frail. Limbs were slow and sluggish. They trembled slightly as he shuffled down the corridor, uncertain if they could support his weight as they once had. 

If Prince noticed, he chose not to comment, something Logan couldn’t help but feel grateful about. There were enough embarrassing moments in his life right now, he didn’t need to add to it. Prince crowing about how injured he still was would be more than Logan could handle just now. 

They weren’t the reason why he focused only on walking. 

Virgil was at the end of this journey. Logan might not have decided if he could believe any of this yet, but he knew that he wanted to see Virgil again. He wanted to talk to Virgil again.

His friend had a way of taking ideas and thoughts that Logan was still struggling to understand and shift them into terms that he was more familiar with. It had come up during their research, and it had been even more evident in that fateful encounter with Ms. Dragon Witch. Virgil might not have intended to clarify their relationship in that moment, but he had. 

If only the rest of the problem was so easy to decipher. 

Some small part of him wondered if that was answer enough. Logan wasn’t ready to examine those feelings too deeply. Not yet. Later. Because he was going to have a later. Because they weren’t going to hurt him or lock him up and throw away the key. They had decided to show him their brand of mercy and that meant something. Something... important. Big. something that Logan could almost touch, could fumble against without properly understanding it.

Soon though. Soon there would be Virgil. Soon there would be answers. Logan refused to go another night without any. One way or another, by the end of this day he would have his choice in his hand. Whatever happened after that, he could handle it. 

It was only a short walk. Down a corridor, through some doors, along another corridor to another door, Prince barely looked at him beyond the occasional glance to make sure Logan was still following. The hero stopped, hand lifting to rest against the wood. 

“Ready?” Prince asked. He didn’t even wait for an answer, pushing the door open and stepping inside. Numbly, Logan followed. His head was spinning yet again and any control he had managed to build up on the walk was scattered to the winds. 

Virgil had been this close to him? They had... they had allowed Virgil to be healed in such proximity to a potential threat?

It was all very well for them to decide now that Logan wasn’t a danger - fingers scrabbled uselessly at the thought, the meaning slipping through his grasp - but that was after they had had the chance to speak to him. If Virgil had been hurt even half as badly as Patton had implied, then they would surely not have moved him. Which meant Virgil had always been in this room and they had always thought it would be safe. Morons. Heroes were _morons_. It was a wonder they weren’t all dead.

Virgil was probably the reason they were still breathing. He appeared to be the only one with any common sense around here.

Then he actually saw Virgil and all other thoughts dropped away. 

"Hey L," Virgil said, giving him a small, somewhat tired smile. He looked... better. Logan wouldn’t go so far as to say he looked good - Logan had little time for niceties or false modesty. Virgil was so small in the bed, dwarfed by the pillows and the machines that crowded around his head. Monitors beeped softly, showing his heart rate, his oxygen levels. All looked... satisfactory. They were all within acceptable levels, Logan feeling something unclench a little in his chest at that. Logan hadn’t even realised he was tense. 

Virgil’s skin was even paler than usual, thick bruises dotted across his limbs. Constellations of pain that mapped out stories Logan no longer wanted to know. 

Logan was well aware that he was just standing there, staring at Virgil. Like a complete idiot but any words he might have decided to say felt as though they had shriveled up in light of this moment. 

Thankfully, Virgil seemed to understand. Eyes shifted from Logan to look at Prince, allowing him a few seconds of privacy as he struggled to pull himself together. Ridiculous. Logan had known he was going to visit Virgil. He had been more than well aware that Virgil had been injured - it had been Logan who had put him back together. And yet faced with the reality of facts that were already in his mind, the doctor couldn’t help but flounder. 

"Can you give us a couple of minutes? Alone?" Virgil asked, giving his brother another of those smiles. Real. It was a real smile, not something forced or brittle. Not like the ones Logan had become so used to seeing in the base. This was something far more relaxed. More honest and more precious because of it. It was the sort of smile that Logan was unused to seeing directed towards him and yet moments ago Virgil had done just that.

Saving him was the right thing to do. Making sure he got home was the right thing. Even if it ended up being a home without him. Logan might crave Virgil’s company, his friendship, his mind but at the same time, he felt a deep understanding. A connection to Hypnos’ story - there was no way Logan could kidnap him and keep him for his own. Even if Virgil would surely be safer in a lab, away from active battle than here.

It wouldn’t make Virgil happy. It wouldn’t make him _smile._

"Virgil, you cannot be serious!” Prince exclaimed, bursting into life and there was the hot headed fool that Logan knew. 

"Dude. If you don't, I'm going to use your real name in front of the good doctor,” Virgil warned. Logan didn’t believe him for a second. There was no way that Virgil would be so cruel - not after all the effort he had gone through in order to protect that secret identity. 

"You'd out me?” Prince asked, voice suddenly small and didn’t he know his brother at all? Even Logan, who had no siblings and only the most basic understanding of social cues, could pick up on the less than serious tone of Virgil’s voice. 

"Hey... hey come here," Virgil murmured softly, eyebrows pinching together in sudden worry. That, sadly enough, was a far more familiar expression as far as Logan was concerned. He couldn’t help but instantly miss the lightness of a few moments ago, when there had appeared to be no weight on Virgil’s shoulders. 

To Logan's surprise, Prince did just that, settling on the edge of the bed. He moved before Virgil did, preempting his gestures to lean forward. They sat like that, forehead against forehead, Virgil whispering softly to his brother, the Prince making only the occasional response. He couldn't make out any of the conversation that passed between them, voices pitched too low for that. It was obvious they were talking about him. Just as obvious that Virgil was trying to reassure and sooth his brother, as one might a wild animal. 

The sensible thing to do would be to try and work out what was being said. What Virgil might be offering Prince to calm his fears and yet... it felt... wrong, to try and listen in on the conversation. Wrong to intrude on something that was so personal and private. 

Logan didn't know what surprised him more. That Virgil was defending him and talking Prince down from whatever fit he had started to work himself into. Or - that he had decided something was objectively wrong and was thus avoiding it. Before meeting Virgil he would have had no hesitation in eavesdropping if the situation called for it. 

Somehow though, Logan felt as if it was an improvement to not listen. Even though it left him woefully short of first hand data. 

“Fine,” Prince grumbled, the low growl dragging Logan back to the moment at hand. “You can have your alone time with the bad doctor. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I know,” Virgil agreed, his whole body relaxing minutely as the two separated, Prince climbing back to his feet. “Thank you. For... trusting me with this.”

Prince looked uncharacteristically awkward, uncertain. He stood there a moment longer, fidgeting with the cuffs on his top before giving a whole body wiggle and nodding his head slightly. 

“I’ll be outside. Shout if you need anything Virgil. Anything,” Prince stressed. “I'll be here before Dr. Logic can so much as blink a threat in your direction.”

“Go on,” Virgil prompted, still offering his brother that same small smile from before. “I’ll be fine and like you said... you’re there if I need you.” 

Logan opened his mouth to make a comment about Prince rarely being there when it counted if Virgil’s past history was any indication before closing it again. This wasn’t the time for pointing out inconvenient truths, no matter how much he wanted to score some metaphorical points against Prince. Instead, he forced himself to swallow down those words and watch as Prince all but stumbled out the door.

At long last, they were alone. Logan had been waiting for this moment ever since he had first woken up in the heroes compound. He had needed to see with his own eyes that his friend was healthy. These people might be heroes but Logan still didn’t know them. He had no way to measure their trustworthiness. Now that he was here however, now that he could see with his own eyes that Virgil was indeed recovering - Logan didn’t know what to say. 

A soft whirring sound broke the silence. Logan looked down. The whirling was followed by a series of beeps. Something was moving under the bed, a squeak of wheels that was all too familiar to him. So much so in fact, that Logan couldn’t properly comprehend what he was hearing. Not until the blanket that was hanging almost to the floor was pushed aside and a very familiar metal machine trundled out. 

“Is... is that... my robot?” Logan asked at last, blinking rather rapidly. It couldn’t... there was no way it could actually be T.O.M. No way that this little robot had somehow managed to get out of Ms. Dragon Witch’s lair unharmed and find a way to this base wherever it might be. There was just... no way.

Virgil gave a low, throaty chuckle. 

“Yeah. Apparently my brother was carrying me, Hypnos had you and as we were leaving Tom was following behind, beeping and crying.”

“He is a robot, there is no physical way for him to cry,” Logan replied, eyes still glued on the machine. On his robot. The first real robot he had ever made. Over the years, T.O.M had gone through countless upgrades. Better processing, better materials used in the body. Logan had repaired him time and time again, even when it might have been more useful to simply start fresh. He had replaced every inch of T.O.M over the years and yet he still felt like the original. The first. 

The machine moved over to him, bumping lightly against his leg with a soft little beep. That wasn’t the first time he had done that. Logan had checked his sensors more than once. There was no error there, nothing he could find, no malfunction to explain such behaviour. No reason for T.O.M to keep bumping into him. He had to know that Logan was there and yet... and yet. 

“Tell that to Morality. Or to Tom himself actually. He cried and so Morality picked him up. The moment Tom knew he was coming with us, he started giving out little happy beeps. He just didn’t want to be left behind. He didn’t want to leave you.”

“Yes. Well...” Logan cleared his throat, unsure of what to say. It didn’t seem like the time to rehash old arguments and point out that it was impossible for T.O.M to have those sorts of wants. 

“I think he’s missed you,” Virgil added. As if in response to those words, T.O.M moved forward again, bumping against Logan’s shins once more. Really, it was a wonder that he didn’t have a multitude of bruises from the amount of times he had done just that. Both Virgil and T.O.M appeared to be waiting for Logan to respond properly to them. 

He crouched down beside the robot with a soft sigh. Awkwardly, Logan reached out and lightly patted the robot’s back unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“There. There. I’m... here now.” Logan intoned. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Not only speaking to T.O.M like this but attempting to comfort him. Still... Logan couldn’t deny that it was... pleasing, to see T.O.M again. To be reunited with his first work. To not be completely alone in this hero base. Virgil was great, Virgil was his friend but T.O.M was a piece of his old life. 

The robot beeped once more, rocking backwards and forwards in what even Logan might be tempted to describe as glee before heading back under Virgil’s bed. 

They lapsed back into silence once more. 

“How are you doing Logan?” Virgil asked, speaking before he could. 

Inexplicably, Logan wanted to laugh at those words. After everything that had happened - everything that had happened to _Virgil_ \- his first question was checking to make sure Logan was okay? It wasn’t funny. It was hilarious, in a terrible way. He could feel the laughter trying to bubble its way up in his throat before getting lodged there. 

“I... I am satisfactory,” he managed at last.

“Are you?” Virgil had an annoying way of cutting right into the heart of a problem. Logan had never been able to fool him. Right from the start, Virgil had been able to know things he had no right in knowing. Like right now. Anyone else would have accepted his polite lie and they would have moved on in the conversation. Not Virgil though. Never Virgil. His keen eyes made him spot things and his notorious stubbornness made him question them if he felt the need. 

When it came to Logan’s mental and physical well being, Virgil had always seen that need. 

“I have had several... unusual conversations,” Logan admitted after a couple of moments of deliberation. It would be pointless to deny what had happened. Virgil would no doubt find out sooner or later. And besides, Logan wanted to talk about it. He wanted to understand, to get Virgil’s perspective on things. 

“Oh no don’t tel- what did they do?” Virgil asked, shifting into protective mode without a thought. 

“Nothing bad,” Logan hastened to reassure him and the last thing he wanted was Virgil working himself up so that he hurt himself. Partly because Prince would no doubt use that as an excuse to throw Logan into the darkness, most low tech and thus horrible prison he could find. Mostly because he couldn’t bear the thought of Virgil being hurt further. 

“Then what?”

“I... I am unsure where to begin. Each conversation was... different. Yet all had the same end goal. I spoke to Hypnos for example.” Logan felt stupid. He hated feeling that, hated that he needed someone else to walk him through the thoughts bubbling in his mind. Hated that he still couldn’t accurately put into words everything that was going on inside. 

“Ah,” Virgil said. There was so much in that single word. So much unspoken in the tone and expression, far more than Logan could ever hope to understand. Virgil looked down at the bed, fingers brushing lightly against each other in a series of small circles. “He told you how we met I’m guessing.”

“Indeed. It sounded... utterly insane Virgil. What were you thinking, befriending someone who took you hostage and held you against your will?”

Virgil merely gave him a look, something pointed and okay, Logan could probably have phrased that better. 

“Don’t,” Logan warned, lifting a hand as if he could somehow physically ward off the words that were bound to come out of Virgil’s mouth. “It was a completely different situation. I did not take you or threaten you. I certainly didn’t run with your brother chasing us and treat the whole thing like some... game.”

“If you say so L,” Virgil said. He was still tracing small shapes on his skin with his fingers but he was still looking at Logan and appeared more relaxed than a few moments ago. His breathing was a steady, reassuring pattern and his pupils were not dilated. There was no physical evidence that Virgil was suffering any sort of anxiety attack which was very good. 

“It wasn’t a situation I’d like to repeat if that means anything. It was terrifying. Sleep was one of the villains my brother liked to rant about more than most and now I was trapped one on one with him.” 

“And yet despite all of that, you turned Sleep,” Logan pointed out. Virgil shook his head in denial. 

“Turned is... the wrong word. It implies...” Virgil trailed off, wrinkling his nose up in thought. “I dunno, that I brainwashed him? That I forced a change on him or something. He made his own choice. I’m just glad we get to... hang out. He is a good friend. Insane, but then who isn’t a little crazy? Being a villain doesn’t always mean being bad. Right?” 

“Hmm...” Logan wasn’t completely convinced but he didn’t know what else to say in response. An uneasy silence settled over them. Virgil huffed a few times, his fingers twitching as if eager to reach something. 

“Look...” Virgil said at last. “Princey is a good brother, albeit over protective. There is no way he would have let you in here if he thought for a second you’d actually do something. None of them would. They all think you can be-”

“What, better?” Logan interrupted sounding more bitter than he expected. He had never been a fan of this sickening idea that only things which could be considered perfectly ‘pure’ and unproblematic were good and thus better in some abstract fashion. As if the world was white or black with nothing in between. Surely Logan couldn’t be the only one who saw all the beautiful shades of grey that touched every moment of every day. 

Virgil cocked his head slightly to the side, staring at Logan as though he was offering up some new puzzle to solve. Something interesting and different. Was this how it felt when they had first met and Logan had examined Virgil to try and figure out why he was there? 

“Different,” Virgil said softly. “I know you Logan. I know how much you love science, how much the work means to you. You don’t care or want to hurt people, you want to make things. You want to explore, to learn.”

“That is... true.” 

“I’m not trying to... turn you. Or make you ‘better’ or ‘redeem’ you or any of that crap that is going on in your head right now. You’re my friend and you saved my life. I want us to keep being friends. To not have to worry about being on opposite sides. I helped you with my work, why don’t you come help me with mine? I invent here too you know so... lab buddies?” Virgil asked hopefully, offering a hand out towards him.

Logan eyed the hand. If Logan was one of those fanciful fools that wrote fiction he would have said it was as though everything had been leading up to this moment, this choice. It was a choice. Honestly offered and he knew that Virgil wouldn’t hate him if he said no. He would lose Virgil and he would lose everything else he was being offered, but there wouldn’t be any hate. Logan could go back to working for whatever villain was willing to pay him. He could go back to looking over his shoulder all the time or expecting to be punished for mistakes. Or he could see where this route would take him.

“Okay. I’ll do it,” Logan decided, reaching out and grasping Virgil’s hand before he could change his mind again.

No. Not decided. 

Admitted.

Because the choice had been made for quite a while. It had just taken him an embarrassingly long time to notice, for his brain to catch up with the baser parts of his body. It had happened back before Virgil had offered, back before Prince had threatened. Back even before Hypno had woven his story around Logan or Patton had first offered his name.

Virgil had become his friend while he was held captive in Ms. Dragon Witch’s lair. 

And that was when the choice had been made. 

Unconsciously, unknowingly, unendingly.


	10. A Bond of Mutual Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! We made it last guys! I really hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story! I never really know how or when to end stories but it felt like a good point here. Not that Logan’s story is over, but this phase of it is. 
> 
> And some - hopefully - good news. I was so fond of this world and I had so many other stories I wanted to tell with these characters, that I have started writing a sequel. It will be platonic, found family goodness. Focusing on a different ‘villain’ but with everyone having a bigger role to play. So, bit of an ad but sub to my name or just keep an eye out. The sequel should be up next weekend and will be called...
> 
> **Devour My Soul or: How Remus Found his Family, All on His Own.**
> 
> Who's up for more Virgil angst? And oh so much Roman and Remus angst? But don’t worry, Lo, Pat and Rem will have plenty to do and suffer as well.
> 
> In the meantime, please enjoy the end of Absent Gods and Silent Tyranny or: How Logan Learned to Stop Over Thinking and Love Everyone. 
> 
> Tumblr gonna tumble! Come say hi @theeternalspace

** **

### A Bond of Mutual Affection

** **

It took another week before Prince was satisfied Virgil was well enough to leave his room. Logan was impressed that it had taken him that long to crumble before Virgil’s nagging - his friend had started begging to get out of the bed after the third day. By the fourth, he had started to resort to increasingly underhand methods. Logan was pretty sure Hypnos was helping Virgil when it came to the blackmail he threatened Prince with. There was no way he could know what his brother had been up to without someone helping him.

Even the threat of posting to social media a photo of Prince from a less than flattering angle wasn’t enough to make the hero bend. He insisted that Virgil would leave the room when he was healthy enough to do so and not before. It was one of the rare situations where Logan found himself in total agreement with Prince. He wasn’t willing to risk Virgil’s health, no matter how bored he might be stuck in bed. 

Better bored than injured. Better dull than dead. 

Eventually however, even Prince's protective instincts had been satisfied. Virgil grinned with triumph when he was told he could leave - not only grin but mumble something about his brother being wrapped around his pinky.

Logan averted his eyes as Virgil climbed out of the bed and changed his top, pulling on a loose purple one to replace the nearly identical loose purple one he had been wearing before. Logan hadn’t seen his back yet. He could ask - Virgil was a blunt person despite his social anxiety. He would say yes or no and that would be the end of it. Yet there was a very larger part of Logan that didn’t want to ask. Not in case he said no. But in case he said yes. Yes and then Logan had to look at the scars. He was no fool. The technology they had would be able to work marvels but it wouldn’t be able to wipe away all the marks. It wouldn’t remove every memory.

All the perfumes of Arabia...

He saw them in his imagination, he didn’t need to see them in reality. There were more than enough horrors in his own mind. 

“Come on, I’ll show you around L,” Virgil told him, either not noticing or not caring about his discomfort. He led the way, Logan and Prince following a few paces behind. Patton was busy baking a celebratory cake in honour of Virgil actually leaving his bed and Hypnos - well, Logan had no clue where Hypnos was. He was a little afraid to ask. 

“I have seen some of your complex already.”

“Yeah, but not the cool stuff. You’ve seen the hospital wing and ok, the kitchen is pretty good but I’m talking about the labs. The store rooms. Oh, the suit room. You’re going to love the suit room, I recently installed this new system that logs any damage the outfits take and then I can use that data to design suits which won’t get my idiots killed.” 

“Are you sure we should be showing Logan all of this stuff already?” Prince asked. “I mean, it’s highly sensitive stuff.”

“Bro...” Virgil trailed off, a hurt expression on his face. As though he couldn’t understand why Prince would say such a thing. Surely the injuries had not affected his memory? Logan knew that his past still weighed heavily on the hero. Of course it would, he had been a villain for a lot longer than he had tried to be a hero. He had done terrible things. If he still worked for Ms. Dragon Witch, or any of them really, then he could have done all manner of harm to the suit room. 

“It’s quite alright Virgil,” Logan assured him. He knew that such things would take time. Logan turned to Prince, intending to repeat the same message, only for Prince to speak first. 

“No, no you’re right Virgil. I apologise, Logan. That was un-princey of me. You have proven yourself worthy of a chance. I said as much. And you shall have it. Me making those sorts of comments hardly does that change justice.” 

Logan... didn’t know what to say to that. It was Patton all over again. Offering him things and saying he had deserved them when he knew full well he didn’t. There had been little evidence to back up Logan’s change of heart. Almost nothing beyond one day’s choices. His own words, while admirable, were just that. Words without meaning. Until he could do something to prove himself, they should mistrust him. 

It drove him insane that they seemed determined to give him a chance as though it was that easy. As though the world was that easy. 

He had to understand this. He had to remind Prince - and Virgil - exactly who they were talking to. That for all his honest desire to change, he was still the great and terrible Doctor Logic. He had still helped to hurt innocent people. They shouldn’t trust him so easily. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Virgil step forward, only to hesitate and start to wobble. Brown eyes closed for a moment as he tried to keep himself upright. 

Instantly, all thoughts of arguments were forgotten. 

Was it too soon? Surely, Virgil had recovered enough by now? The alternative was that he was more injured than Logan had previously thought. An idea that sat uncomfortably in his stomach, yet another weight to go with the countless metaphorical stones that filled him. 

Prince was moving before Virgil could regain his balance or topple, unwilling to risk it being the later. He bent his knees slightly as he did, scooping Virgil up in one smooth motion, arms around his shoulder and under his legs. The end result was to make Virgil look like one of those damsels in distress that heroes were always so keen on saving. 

“Put me down you buffoon!” Virgil screeched, one hand lightly batting at Prince's arm. His brother merely laughed, shaking his head as he did. 

“Never!” Prince proclaimed with a grin. “You’re my baby brother, you’re still recovering and I am not only a hero, but _your_ hero. Rules say that I need to protect you! You want to go somewhere, then I am here to do just that. I will carry you, oh Virgil.” 

“Fine,” Virgil grumbled. The small smile on his face belied the annoyed tone of voice however. He twisted a little in Prince's hold, looking over to Logan. “Wanna see my lab L? It might not be quite as cool as yours, but I have a couple of projects I’m part way through that I think you’ll like. Including a robot programmed with various fighting styles. I want to teach it to learn and react in battles so the idiot here doesn’t get complacent about his own mortality. Come on Prince, to the lab.”

“But Virgil, that’s on the other side of the complex,” Prince whined. “It’s a walk.” 

“You picked me up, dude,” Virgil pointed out, his attention still apparently fully fixed on Logan. 

“Yeah but I didn’t expect to have to carry you that far!” Prince replied. Virgil smiled sweetly. It was a kind, warm smile - and it sent a chill down Logan’s spine. He had seen that smile before. Or something similar at least. There was still that hint of fondness in it, a lightness against it but otherwise it reminded him of the smile Virgil had given Ms. Dragon Witch. It was one that promised spitefulness. Virgil’s whole body relaxed. He leaned against Prince's chest, head tilted up just a fraction in order to finally look at his brother. 

“Suffer,” he simply said. 

"Keep this up and I'll toss you over my shoulder like the bag of mouldy emo potatoes you represent,” Prince grumbled. 

“Yeah, yeah. Talk is cheap Princey. Chop, chop, these legs won't get to the lab by themselves,” Virgil replied, apparently unimpressed by the threat. 

Logan couldn’t help but notice however, for all that Prince complained, he didn’t make the slightest effort to actually put Virgil down. If anything, he held him tighter as he walked.

The lab was indeed, not as well stocked as Logan’s own.

It was a little dusty as well. No doubt because without Virgil there, nobody had gone into it. Logan resisted the urge to point out either of those flaws. It was not his friend’s fault that he worked with morons who could neither afford the best equipment or have the decency to maintain it during Virgil’s absence. 

It promised to hold all sorts of marvels though. Logan had only seen Virgil's brilliance when focused on a task he had been given. There had been no change to obscure his talents when they were allowed to be wild and free. When he could choose a project that spoke to him. Whatever was on the tables scattered around the room looked to be far more interesting because of that. He couldn’t wait to get into some of the work.

“I’ll clear half of the lab,” Virgil told him, still in the arms of his brother. “You can work on whatever you want. I hope we can collaborate on things of course. Your mind keeps me on my toes, but I know we will have different projects as well.” 

“You would share this space with me, without demanding that I devote all of my energies towards your projects?” Logan had to ask, he had to understand the rules of this new arrangement. 

Virgil and Prince exchanged a glance. They seemed to be talking to each other without any words exchanged, because after a moment, Prince was carefully lowering Virgil back to the ground. Another moment and he was walking out of the laboratory, leaving the two of them alone. 

“You deserve a chance Lo,” Virgil said. His voice was unbearably soft. Logan sucked in a sharp breath, the air around him suddenly painful to swallow. He had to look away from the other man for a moment while he worked through the sudden and unexpected spike of pain, blinking his eyes rapidly as he did. Only for a moment though. A moment was all he needed to regain control, meeting Virgil’s gaze once more. 

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Logan began. Virgil shook his head, one hand lifting to silence him.

“Stop it. I know what you’re thinking. I know how that big brain of yours works. Like you’ve not done enough right? Everything has a price and you haven’t paid it yet. And you don’t have enough credit to even get a loan. That’s what you think and I know you hate to hear it... but you’re wrong Logan.” 

Virgil was right in that respect. He did hate to hear the theory that he was wrong about anything. Even if he would like to just grasp Virgil’s words and accept the lifeline they offered. Logan couldn’t do that. It would leave him permanently confused and on edge. 

“That’s not how it works here,” Virgil added. Those words only made it worse.

“Why not?” Logan snapped. He couldn’t help the pain and confusion in his voice and none of this was right. None of it followed paths that he understood. Virgil lifted a hand, running it through his hair, looking as frustrated as Logan felt. 

“Because... because... you’ve been operating in a very specific corner of the world. Where checks and balances are the norm. Where you can’t have friends or weaknesses because someone will use that against you. But you made the choice to step away from that life. Look at me Logan. Should I repay Prince for helping to save my life? Or Hypnos, or Patton? After all, they risked their lives to get me out of that base.”

“Of course not.”

“Why not?” Virgil asked, parroting the words back at him. As if this was funny. As if... it was a joke. As if Logan was a joke.

“Because they are your friends, built over time! You earned their trust!” 

“And you’re my friend. It isn't like there is a ranking system. You’re not going to level up if you keep giving me things. You’re my friend and you’re worth respect and dignity.” 

And the others?” Logan challenged. He knew they weren’t his friends. Virgil didn’t even bother to pretend otherwise which helped a little.

“Okay. They aren’t your friends yet... but they want to be. Which means they will give you the benefits of friendship to see if it will work. You think you have to earn something? Be yourself. For better or worse. I mean. They put up with me. And Prince's ridiculousness, or Hypnos' somewhat dubious choices at times. They put up with Patton and his puns because that is what friends do. And it’s what we’ll do for you.” 

“Prince can be ridiculous at times,” Logan agreed, almost cautiously testing how the words sounded out loud. He had thought it plenty of times. He had heard Virgil complain about his brother even more frequently. 

This was the first time Logan himself had ever said such a thing without it being in anger however. The first time he had done more than make a vague noise of agreement. The first time he had tried to be almost... playful. Virgil gave a soft snort, his head bobbing a little. 

“It’s going to take time, and I just want to say... that it’s okay. It’s okay that it will take time to adjust, to learn how to look at the world with different eyes. Just. Promise me you’ll give it a try? Just, to try and accept what is offered without thinking there is some trick behind it?” Virgil was looking so intently at him from under his bangs. So hopeful. Logan wasn’t a monster. He couldn’t deny that look. 

“Very well. I will... try.” 

His friend smiled softly at the words, leaning against one of the tables. Virgil looked down, fingers brushed over one of the half finished devices there, touching it delicately. He didn’t look up, even as he spoke.

“Logan? I don’t know if I ever outright said it or not so... thank you. For saving me.” 

Logan lifted a hand, dabbing it at his cheek hesitantly. How strange. His face was wet. His throat felt tight as well, something hard and painful forming there. It made it hard to talk for a moment, Logan having to swallow a few times to form the lump down. Despite that however, he wanted to make the effort. For the first time in a long time, Logan knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“No Virgil. Thank you. For everything.” 

\---

Things changed after that.

Slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Like pebbles bouncing down a slope, only to be followed by larger boulders as the momentum picked up in the change that was his life. Logan had always been resistant to change when there hadn’t appeared to be a pressing need for it. This change though... this change, to his bewilderment, had been enjoyable. It was _good_. 

It wasn’t just Patton’s secret identity he knew now. Hypnos and then Prince had each volunteered their civilian names. Each without prompting or even asking. Logan still wasn’t sure how he felt about either of them. Remy - as he had discovered Hypnos was called - tended to look at him with an all knowing look in his eyes. It gave Logan the unnerving impression that Remy knew something that he didn’t and found that funny. 

Virgil assured him that it was just the way Remy looked at anyone but Logan remained unconvinced. He and Remy were a little too alike for him to be able to dismiss it as something purely harmless. Remy knew what Logan had gone through to reach this point. He knew - in a way that even Virgil could never understand - everything that Logan had given up or changed in order to be hyere. He got that it was harder than Logan admitted. And he understood that there were times when Logan missed being a villian.

He missed the unlimited access to funds - the heroes were well stocked, but there were limits in the lab, both monetary and ethical that Logan had never been faced with before. He missed the way life had been easier in a fashion because he didn’t have to worry about the harm his work caused. Now he cared. It made him weaker as well as stronger and there were days when Logan didn’t know how he would be able to carry on with the weight of his past choices pressing so heavily down on him.

One day, Logan was determined he would talk to Remy about all that. Not yet. Not for a while. Not until they were both fully comfortable in the skins they had elected to wear and not until Logan could look back at his past and feel only the faintest stirrings of guilt. He wasn’t close to that. But that was okay, because there was no time limit on these things. 

It was still a little strange to work on both scientific projects and his own life, without anyone breathing down his neck in that fashion. There was no deadline and the unspoken threat of punishment if he didn’t reach those targets. 

And there certainly wasn’t anyone being punished if a project failed to work in the manner that it had intended. Not Logan or his friends. Instead, he could work with Virgil in order to try and discover what had gone wrong, and could improve it because of that freely given time. 

The Prince, Roman, was a whole different situation. Roman had no idea what it was like to try and work against everything he had grown up believing. He didn’t know what it was like to second guess every thought, to wonder if it was something a ‘good’ person would think or if he was still tainted by his past.

Being ‘good’ came so naturally to Roman. So very easy and so very annoyingly effortless. He just had to smile and say a few words for everyone to consider him a great hero. Not only that, but Roman seemed to always _know_ what those few words should be.

Roman still seemed willing to give Logan that chance he had promised. It meant more than Logan could say because he knew that logically, Roman had to be the hardest to convince. Roman loved Virgil. It was obvious how deeply he loved his brother. And it was painfully obvious how guilty he felt about allowing him to be kidnapped a second time. It didn’t matter how many times Virgil reassured Roman that it hadn’t been his fault. Logan had seen that look in Roman’s eyes. The way his gaze would follow his brother around the room as though afraid to let him out of his sight, in case he blinked and Virgil would vanish. 

Although there was no way to be completely sure, Logan was confident that Roman suffered from nightmares. Probably connected to Virgil’s kidnapping and the state he had been found in. Logan had come across the hero wandering the corridors at night too often for it to be anything else than the horrors of his own mind. Logan had those horrors too after all.

In those moments, the two of them strangely almost got on. They would sit in silence on whatever surface was to hand. If they were near the kitchen, Logan would make them both a hot drink to hold while the hours ticked past. The two of them would sit there until the drinks had gone stone cold in their hands and then each shuffle back to bed. Roman never mentioned those night gatherings during the day. Logan wasn’t sure if it was because he was ashamed of them or if he simply didn’t want to let Virgil know. 

Either way, Logan was content to keep his secret for the time being. 

Patton was both the easiest and the hardest to come to grips with. Patton was so free with his affection. His smiles and touches were so frequent. Every conversation was an excuse for him to pat Logan on the shoulder or catch lightly at his arm if he wanted to get his attention. Logan was... not used to such gestures. For a touch to be anything positive. Patton seemed to understand that though without actually drawing attention to it. Patton was good at a lot of things like that. 

Try as Logan might to just accept the warmth for what Patton insisted it was, he couldn’t help but tense a little at each unexpected touch. Life wasn’t as easy as Patton made it out to be, not for people like Logan. It was a nice enough idea though. 

Logan wasn’t quite ready to call any of them friends. Not just yet. 

But he _could_ look ahead to the future and see possibilities where he did just that. 

\---

_Eight Months Later..._

“Are you sure you’re ready for this specs?” Roman’s voice was a little more subdued than normal, the hero absently adjusting the sash on his costume as he spoke. They stood clustered around the back of a stage, Roman and Patton in front of him as if to shield him from anyone trying to look. Remy was already out on the stage, while Virgil stood beside him, a pensive frown on his face. 

Logically, Logan knew he should be nervous. Terrified. There were so many ways this could all go wrong and blow up in his face. It had only been eight months since he had changed his mind and thus his whole life. Eight months since he had decided to see what it would be like to be a hero. Eight months unlike any other in his life. And now he had decided to let the city know who he had once been. 

“You know, you don’t have to do this yet,” Virgil offered, not for the first time. He bit at his bottom lip, a nervous tic that Logan knew was born out of concern for him. It made that now ever present warmth in his body grow that little bit hotter.

“Remy still hasn’t told anyone about his past. Honestly, I don’t think he plans to ever and that’s... well, I worry that someone will find out and out him, but otherwise it’s up to him. Your own pace, remember?” 

Logan glanced out onto the stage once more. Remy was chatting away to the mayor, a spot light trained on the two of them, another directed at the spot where the rest of them would emerge from the curtains. There was still time to change his mind. There were plenty of other things they could talk about, plenty of excuses they could use to explain why they had called this meeting. But no. No, Logan had spent long enough lurking in the dark. 

“No, it’s time. I appreciate the worry Virgil, but I am ready. I want people to know. I need them to know. After the last attack... it is only a matter of time before Ms. Dragon Witch either tells the city herself, or tries to use my past to hurt people. I won’t let her do that.” 

“Okay then.” Virgil exhaled softly. Anyone would think it was him that was about to march up on that stage and announce to people that he had once willfully assisted in trying to enslave them. He was worried about Logan. About people’s reactions and how he might take it. It was heartwarming.

“We’re all with you kiddo,” Patton reminded him, glancing over his shoulder to give one of his best smiles. It was true too. The other three heroes would stand on the stage with him, Virgil in the wings, and they would all be there to help him with what came after.

That heat burst into flames then, soothing and reassuring. Lighting up areas of his mind that had been shadowed for far too long. 

His previous assessment had been built without all the knowledge. It was incorrect - not because he was wrong, but because he had lacked all the necessary information. 

It was logical to be nervous, yes. It just wasn’t logical to be terrified. Quite the opposite in fact. Because no matter what happened today, he would still have his friends around him. His family. And with them by his side, Logan knew he could overcome anything. 

Logan smiled and stepped out into the light.

_~fin~_


End file.
